Concrete Reinforcement Bars Views
Reinforced concrete is concrete in which reinforcement bars ( rebars ), reinforcement grids, plates or fibers have been incorporated to strengthen the concrete in tension. It was invented by French gardener Joseph Monier in 1849 and patented in 1867.[1] The term Ferro Concrete refers only to concrete that is reinforced with iron or steel. Other materials used to reinforce concrete can be organic and inorganic fibres as well as composites in different forms. Concrete is strong in compression, but weak in tension, thus adding reinforcement increases the strength in tension. In addition, the failure strain of concrete in tension is so low that the reinforcement has to hold the cracked sections together. For a strong, ductile and durable construction the reinforcement shall have the following properties:
As a rule of thumb, only to give an idea on orders of magnitude, steel is protected at pH above ~11 but starts to corrode below ~10 depending on steel characteristics and local physico-chemical conditions when concrete becomes carbonated. Carbonation of concrete along with chloride ingress are amongst the chief reasons for the failure of reinforcement bars in concrete.
In wet and cold climates, reinforced concrete for roads, bridges, parking structures and other structures that may be exposed to deicing salt may benefit from use of epoxy-coated, hot dip galvanised or stainless steel rebar, although good design and a well-chosen cement mix may provide sufficient protection for many applications. Epoxy coated rebar can easily be identified by the light green colour of its epoxy coating. Hot dip galvanized rebar may be bright or dull grey depending on length of exposure, and stainless rebar exhibits a typical white metallic sheen that is readily distinguishable from carbon steel reinforcing bar. Reference ASTM standard specifications A767 Standard Specification for Hot Dip Galvanised Reinforcing Bars, A775 Standard Specification for Epoxy Coated Steel Reinforcing Bars and A955 Standard Specification for Deformed and Plain Stainless Bars for Concrete Reinforcement.
Another important source of chloride ions is from sea water. Sea water contains by weight approximately 3.5r wt.% salts. These salts include sodium chloride, magnesium sulfate, calcium sulfate, and bicarbonates. In water these salts dissociate in free ions (Na+, Mg2+, Cl-, SO42-, HCO3-) and migrate with the water into the capillaries of the concrete. Chloride ions are particularly aggressive for the corrosion of the carbon steel reinforcement bars and make up about 50% of these ions.