Diameter Inconsistency, Strength and Corrosion Characteristics of Locally-Produced and Imported Steel Reinforcing Bars in Ilorin, Nigeria

Abstract

There has been increasing incidents of collapse of reinforced concrete buildings in Nigeria. Many research works, suspecting the quality of concrete produced in Nigeria, have focused on concrete with few attention on steel, perhaps because its production is usually in a more controlled environment. Over the years, many clients of building construction projects or their representatives have shown preference for imported steel bars over the locally-produced steel bars. This research work sets out to investigate the quality of steel reinforcement produced locally and compare them with imported steel bars. The diameter of the two classes of bars available in the open market at Ilorin, Nigeria were measured and their deviations from their manufacturer’s designated diameter were determined. Also, their response to the application of load and deterioration in different environments, simulated by their immersion in water, hydrochloric acid (HCL) and sodium hydroxide (NaOH), were studied. Locally-produced bars deviated more from their designated diameter than the imported bars. The imported steel bars have higher strength and experienced lower strain compared to the locally produced steel. They also showed better corrosion resistance, when immersed in distilled water and HCL, than the locally-produced steel bars. The preference for imported steel by clients of building projects is justified.There is a need for regulatory bodies, such as the Standards Organization of Nigeria (SON), to strictly monitor and penalize local steel manufacturers that engage in corrupt practices leading to significant dimensional and strength deviations from specification. This has the potential of minimizing the incidence of building collapse in Nigeria.