Influence of Longitudinal Bar Corrosion on Shear Behavior of RC Beams

Abstract

There have been few reports on the shear behavior of reinforced concrete (RC) beams with corroded longitudinal bars, and the influence of longitudinal bar corrosion has yet to be quantified. Given this background, experimental investigations were conducted to investigate the shear behavior of RC beams with corroded longitudinal bars, in which parameters such as corrosion level and shear-span-to-effective-depth-ratio were taken into consideration. Analytical investigations were also performed to evaluate the load-carrying mechanism of these specimens. The investigational results indicate that the shear behavior of RC beams is influenced not only by the corrosion level of the longitudinal bars but also by the shear-span-to-effective-depth-ratio (a/d). Based on these experimental results, a modified equation capable of calculating the shear capacity of RC beams with corroded longitudinal bars was proposed and its validity was proved.