Abstract
The behaviors of corrosion-induced concrete cover spalling were investigated experimentally and analytically, with a specific emphasis on the local corrosion along the rebar. In the experiments, the single rebar embedded in a slab specimen was corroded non-uniformly in the length direction by an electric corrosion method. The cracking behavior including surface and internal crack patterns were observed. In the analysis, the three-dimensional Rigid Body Spring Method (RBSM) combined with the corrosion expansion model was applied to examine the cracks propagation that induces the cover spalling when rebar subjected to the non-uniform corrosion distribution. Both experimental and analytical results showed that the internal crack pattern differs along the rebar length, depending on the corrosion distribution. The concentrated corrosion would cause inclined lateral cracks to the concrete surface in addition to the vertical crack, which triggers the cover spalling, while only vertical cracks appear at the external areas.
