Corroded steel rebar embedded in FRP wrapped concrete receives active protection

Abstract

Many people are worried about the long-term durability of reinforced concrete, which is one of the most widely used building materials in civil engineering. Steel corrosion in concrete is the most serious of these issues, since it causes concrete infrastructure to deteriorate prematurely. Corrosion-damaged reinforced concrete structures decay slowly, with corrosion, concrete cracking, excessive bending, and structural weakening eventually leading to collapse. Increasingly, concrete structures are being investigated to determine whether they can be made to last longer. In recent decades, a variety of destructive and non-destructive damage detection systems have been developed to investigate the changes in a structure caused by corrosion. In the realm of RC system maintenance and rehabilitation, carbon fibre reinforced polymers are a novel breakthrough (CFRP). These materials have recently gotten a lot of attention, and their use in structural repair and retrofit has increased dramatically. CFRP textiles provide corrosion resistance, a high stiffness-to-weight ratio, high tensile strength, low weight, great durability, and ease of installation, to name a few advantages. The CFRP wraps act as a barrier layer, preventing additional corrosion of the steel. Concealment pressure is formed when FRP sheets are wrapped over RC components, preventing corrosion from expanding the volume. The concrete cover, as a result, remains in place. Another significant benefit of CFRP is the active protection of structures via the use of CFRP anodes. The usage of FRP wraps as an anode for active protection is a novel notion in this thesis. For efficient protection, the wrap, on the other hand, must have strong and persistent electric conductivity. Using non-destructive monitoring methods, this thesis studies carbon FRP (CFRP) composites for active protection of RC structures.