Corrosion and Long Term Performance of Concrete in NPP and Waste Facilities
V. L'Hostis, F. Foct and D. Féron
J. Phys. IV France 136 (2006) 109-120
DOI: 10.1051/jp4:2006136012

Fracture of concrete caused by the reinforcement corrosion products

Q.T. Nguyen¹, A. Millard², S. Caré³, V. L'Hostis⁴ and Y. Berthaud<sup>1

1</sup>  LMT Cachan, 61 Av. Pt. Wilson, 94235 Cachan, France
    e-mail: thanh@lmt.ens-cachan.fr
²  CEA/DEN/DM2S/SEMT/LM2S, 91191 Gif-sur-Yvette Cedex, France
³  LMSGC, Institut Navier, 2 allée Kepler, 77420 Champs-sur-Marne, France
⁴  CEA/DEN/DPC/SCCME/LECBA, 91191 Gif-sur-Yvette Cedex, France

(Published online 22 December 2006)

Abstract
One of the most current degradations in reinforced concrete structures is related to the corrosion of the reinforcements. The corrosion products during active corrosion induce a mechanical pressure on the surrounding concrete that leads to cover cracking along the rebar. The objective of this work is to study the cracking of concrete due to the corrosion of the reinforcements. The phenomenon of corrosion/cracking is studied in experiments through tests of accelerated corrosion on plate and cylindrical specimens. A CCD camera is used to take images every hour and the pictures are analyzed by using the intercorrelation image technique (Correli ) to derive the displacement and strain field. Thus the date of appearance of the first through crack is detected and the cinematic crack initiations are observed during the test. A finite element model that allows prediction of the mechanical consequences of the corrosion of steel in reinforced concrete structures is proposed. From the comparison between the test results and numerical simulations, it may be concluded that the model is validated in term of strains up to the moment when the crack becomes visible, and in terms of crack pattern.

© EDP Sciences 2006