Robustness of corroded reinforced concrete structures ? a structural performance approach

CAVACO E.; CASAS J.R.; NEVES L.A.C.; A E. HUESPE

STRUCTURE AND INFRASTRUCTURE ENGINEERING

TAYLOR & FRANCIS LTD

Año: 2013 vol. 9 p. 42 - 58

1573-2479

The aim of this work is to provide new contributions in order to define moreaccurately the structural robustness concept, particularly when it is appliedto corroded reinforced concrete (RC) structures. To fulfill such task, severalrobustness indicators are analyzed and discussed with special emphasis given tothe structural performance based measures. A new robustness definition and aframework to assess it are then proposed, based on the structural performancelost after damage occurrence. The competence of the proposed methodology isthen tested comparing the robustness of two reinforced concrete foot bridgesunder corrosion. Damage considered is the longitudinal reinforcement corrosionlevel and load carrying capacity is the structural performance evaluated. Inorder to analyze corrosion effects, a finite element based two step analysis isadopted. On the first step a cross section analysis is performed to capturephenomenons such as: expansion of the reinforcement due to the corrosionproducts accumulation; damage and cracking in the reinforcement surroundingconcrete; steel-concrete bond strength degradation; and effective reinforcementarea reduction. The results obtained are then used to built a 2D structuralmodel, in order to assess the maximum load carrying capacity of the corrodedstructure. For each foot bridge, robustness is finally assessed using the proposedmethodology.