Rebar Corrosion

PA Concrete Conference
January 2008
Siva Corrosion Services, Inc.

www.SivaCorrosion.com
January 2008
Corrosion Issues of Prestressed and

Post-tensioned Systems
materials and corrosion specialists
Can We Prevent This?

Can We Prevent This?
Siva Venugopalan
Slide 1
January 2008
January 2008

Subsequent wire breaks - more frequent until

the strand/tendon is completely lost
Increased stress - leads to wire breaks, which

in turn can lead to further increase in stress

Siva Venugopalan
Slide 5
Corrosion Issues of Prestressed and Post-tensioned

Systems
Cl
Cl
Cl
Cl
Cl
Cl Cl
Rust
Cl
Cl
#4 bar
#6 bar
#4 bar
Top Mat Rebar

Siva Venugopalan
Slide 4
Problems Corrosion of Strands

January 2008
Cl
Cl
January 2008
Time to 50% Section Loss of a

0.50.5-inch Strand
At 1 mil per year, time-to 50% section loss

of outer wires is about 25 years
Cl
Cl
At 1 mil per year, time-to 50% section loss

of 0.5-inch rebar is >100 years.
Siva Venugopalan
Slide 3
0.5-inch
7-wire
strand
Siva Venugopalan
Slide 2
Time to 50% Section Loss of a

0.50.5-inch Rebar
Dangers of Tendon Corrosion

Reduced cross section - increased stress on
individual wires

Corrosion of
Strands
January 2008

Siva Venugopalan
Slide 6
Siva Venugopalan
Page 1
January 2008

Corroded &
Broken Wire
When does Corrosion Initiate?

Problems - Broken Wires

When the grout is carbonated

When the combination of chlorides and
partially carbonated grout results in
conditions conducive for corrosion
When the air voids and/or carbonated grout
are in contact with the strands
Heavily
Corroded Wire
January 2008
When there is sufficient chlorides
Siva Venugopalan
Slide 7
January 2008

Non-destructive testing must quantify

the corrosion problem - not just identify
it.
Siva Venugopalan
Slide 9
Box Beam Bridge with Asphalt

Overlay
Soil
January 2008
Asphalt Overlay

Siva Venugopalan
Slide 11

Systems
30
29
Strands
January 2008
January 2008
Visual inspection can be misleading

Mid Bay Bridge.
Visual inspection cracks, efflorescence,

rust stains, misalignment, etc.
Typical Box Beam
Types of Investigation
Siva Venugopalan
Slide 8

Siva Venugopalan
Slide 10
Box Beam Bridge with Concrete and

Asphalt Overlay
Concrete
Overlay
January 2008
Asphalt
Overlay

Rebar Mat
Siva Venugopalan
Slide 12
Siva Venugopalan
Page 2
January 2008

January 2008

Rebar corrosion results in delamination and

spall.
Minor section loss (<5%) of rebars leads to
delamination and spall.
Even significant strand corrosion (complete
wire break) may not lead to delamination or
spall.
Minor cracks may be the only visible sign
provided by box beam bridges.
What Does it Mean?

Strand versus Rebar Corrosion
Siva Venugopalan
Slide 13
January 2008
Evaluated several box girder bridges.

Evaluated both external and internal tendons.
Visual inspection alone can be misleading.
Quantifying corrosion is a must to define
future section loss.
Define section losses to be used in the
structural analysis to determine remaining
strength.
Siva Venugopalan
Slide 15
January 2008

Siva Venugopalan
Slide 17

Systems
In addition to visual inspection,

document the quality of the
concrete/grout at key locations.
Determine the rate of corrosion of
strands and expected future section
loss.
Perform structural analysis to
determine remaining strength.
How Do I Use this Information?
January 2008
Siva Venugopalan
Slide 14


Corrosion Rate Measurement

SCS Experience
January 2008
Visual evaluation - not sufficient for PT

structures.
Measure section losses and the rate of
corrosion at critical points.
Document the quality of the material
surrounding the strand/tendon.
Calculate time-to-criticality.

Siva Venugopalan
Slide 16
Why Do We Need Corrosion

Investigations?
Quantify and not just identify corrosion
problems.
Incorporate corrosion data in structural
capacity calculations.
Identify and extend the life of critical
beams so that the entire structure is not
lost due to premature deterioration of a
few beams.
January 2008

Siva Venugopalan
Slide 18
Siva Venugopalan
Page 3
January 2008

We Can Prevent This!
January 2008

Siva Venugopalan
Slide 19

Systems
Siva Venugopalan
Page 4

Rebar Corrosion

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PA Concrete Conference

Siva Corrosion Services, Inc.

Corrosion Issues of Prestressed and

materials and corrosion specialists

Can We Prevent This?

materials and corrosion specialists

Siva Corrosion Services, Inc.

Can We Prevent This?

Corrosion Issues of Prestressed and

materials and corrosion specialists

Subsequent wire breaks - more frequent until

Siva Corrosion Services, Inc.

materials and corrosion specialists

Siva Corrosion Services, Inc.

Increased stress - leads to wire breaks, which

Corrosion Issues of Prestressed and

Corrosion Issues of Prestressed and Post-tensioned

Top Mat Rebar

Corrosion Issues of Prestressed and

materials and corrosion specialists

Problems Corrosion of Strands

materials and corrosion specialists

Siva Corrosion Services, Inc.

Time to 50% Section Loss of a

At 1 mil per year, time-to 50% section loss

At 1 mil per year, time-to 50% section loss

Time to 50% Section Loss of a

Dangers of Tendon Corrosion

Corrosion Issues of Prestressed and

Corrosion Issues of Prestressed and

Siva Corrosion Services, Inc.

materials and corrosion specialists

When does Corrosion Initiate?

materials and corrosion specialists

Siva Corrosion Services, Inc.

Problems - Broken Wires

Corrosion Issues of Prestressed and

When the grout is carbonated

When there is sufficient chlorides

Corrosion Issues of Prestressed and

Non-destructive testing must quantify

Box Beam Bridge with Asphalt

Corrosion Issues of Prestressed and

Corrosion Issues of Prestressed and Post-tensioned

materials and corrosion specialists

materials and corrosion specialists

Siva Corrosion Services, Inc.

materials and corrosion specialists

Visual inspection can be misleading

Siva Corrosion Services, Inc.

Visual inspection cracks, efflorescence,

Typical Box Beam

Siva Corrosion Services, Inc.

materials and corrosion specialists

Siva Corrosion Services, Inc.

Corrosion Issues of Prestressed and

Box Beam Bridge with Concrete and

Corrosion Issues of Prestressed and

Siva Corrosion Services, Inc.

Corrosion Issues of Prestressed and

materials and corrosion specialists

Rebar corrosion results in delamination and

What Does it Mean?

materials and corrosion specialists