Strength Characteristics and Corrosion of Glass Fibre Reinforced Concrete Column Exposed in Sea Water Environmental Condition

Abstract

This paper highlights the investigation on the strength and corrosion study of glass fibre reinforced concrete (GFRP) column in sea water environmental condition. Specimen of size 600 mm length x 150 mm wide x 300 mm deep columns were cast. Totally 8 columns were cast. Out of which, 4 columns were cured using potable water and 4 columns were cured using in artificial sea water. Among 8 reinforced concrete columns, two concrete columns were used, as the reference column containing steel rods both in longitudinal and horizontal ties and were cured both in potable and artificial sea water. For the corrosion study, 2 concrete columns reinforced by GFRP bars in the longitudinal direction and steel rods as horizontal ties and were cured using artificial sea water. Rebound hammer and Ultrasonic Pulse Velocity tests were performed on columns to evaluate the strength characteristics at the end of 7, 14, 28, 56 and 90 days of curing. The results will also be validated using destructive methods. Corrosion study was also performed by single Cu-CuSo4 Half-Cell equipment. Based on the observation, it was found that the compressive strength in artificial sea water curing exhibited better performance than in potable water curing.