Experimental investigation of the spatial variability of the steel weight loss and corrosion cracking of reinforced concrete members: novel X-ray and digital image processing techniques

Abstract

The material properties of concrete structures and their structural dimensions are known to be random due to the spatial variability associated with workmanship and various other factors. This randomness produces spatially variable corrosion damages, such as steel weight loss and corrosion cracks. The structural capacity of reinforced concrete (RC) members strongly depends on the local conditions of their reinforcements. Modelling the spatial variability of steel corrosion is important, but steel corrosion in RC members can only be observed after severely damaging the concrete members. To understand the steel corrosion growth process and the change in the spatial variability of steel corrosion with time, continuous monitoring is necessary. In this study, X-ray photography is applied to observe steel corrosion in RC beams. The steel weight loss is estimated by the digital image processing of the X-ray photograms. The non-uniform distribution of steel weight loss along rebars inside RC beams determined using X-ray radiography and its correlation with longitudinal crack widths are experimentally investigated.

Keywords:

• X-ray photograms
• RC structures
• chloride-induced corrosion
• cracking
• steel weight loss
• spatial variability