Experiments of Chloride Ingression in Flexural Reinforced Concrete Beams

Abstract

This paper focused on the chloride ions' ingression in reinforced concrete beams under flexural loading. Effect of different factors on the chloride ingression in the reinforced concrete beam was investigated. Those factors are water to cement (w/c) ratio, mid-span crack width, chloride ingression method and flexural loading history. In total 20 reinforced concrete beams having different w/c ratios of 0.53, 0.43 and 0.36 were tested. Flexural load was applied to beams by using self-anchoring at both ends. The nominal mid-span crack width designed value range from 0.1 mm to 0.25 mm. Two chloride ingression methods, namely long term immersion and wet-dry cycling are used. Three loading history were also designed for comparison. Chloride ions' contents at different depth in different location of beams were obtained. In addition, chloride diffusion coefficients were also calculated for comparison. It is shown that both the crack and tensile stress have effect on the chloride ions' ingression in reinforced concrete beams.