Professional Documents
Culture Documents
Editors
P. Srinivasan
Dr. J. K. Dattatreya
Dr. B. H. Bharatkumar
CBA Publishers
© CSIR-Structural Engineering Research centre
February 2011
Foreword iii
1 Need for Non-Destructive Testing and Evaluation 1
Nagesh R. Iyer
2 Radar and Ultrasonic Pulse Echo for Non
Destructive Evaluation of Concrete Structures 9
P. Srinivasan
3 Use of Impact Echo Method for Determination of
Thickness and Defects in Concrete Elements 23
S. Bhaskar
4 Advanced Cement Composites (ACCS)- Production
and Application to Repair 35
J. K. Dattatreya
5 Polymer Concrete Composites for Repair and
Rehabilitation of Concrete 59
Meyappan Neelamegam
6 Investigations on Geopolymer Concrete and its
Application for Repair 79
P. S. Ambily and J. K. Dattatreya
7 Advances in Fibre Reinforced Concrete and its
Applications 109
T. S. Krishnamoorthy and S. Sundar Kumar
8 Fibre Reinforced Polymer (FRP) in Civil
Engineering Applications 135
B. H. Bharatkumar and G. Ramesh
9 Self-Compacting Concrete as a Repair Material 159
J. Annie Peter
10 Mechanism of Corrosion and Repair of Corrosion
Damaged Concrete Structures 177
J. Prabakar
11 Repair and Retrofitting of RC Structures - Case
Studies 199
K. Balasubramanian and V. Rajendran
vi Recent Developments in Condition Assesment, Repair Materials and Repair...
1.1 INTRODUCTION
The vast majority of structures and buildings consist of concrete and
masonry structures. Construction activities account for a major com-
ponent of the budget in our country. Cement Concrete is the most
extensively used material for construction of different types of struc-
tures/components such as buildings, bridges, etc., A very large part of
the infrastructure in most countries is made of concrete, providing the
basis of economical and social development. These are often affected
by damage due to ageing, environmental agents, overloading, vibra-
tions and other causes. A great variety of damage situations can occur,
as micro cracking and cracking due to material and structural dam-
age, material discontinuity, and surface degradation. Maintenance and
repair of constructed facilities/infrastructures is presently the most
significant challenge facing the country. As part of the sustainabil-
ity, it is necessary to extend the service life of these structures. For
distressed concrete structures, it is necessary to evaluate its present
condition so as to select proper choice of repair material and repair
techniques.
Non-destructive testing methods can play a supporting role in the
decision making process of the structure assessment. Not all defects or
deteriorations can be found by visual inspection. Some may only be
visible when it is already too late to avoid major repair. Based on reli-
able quantitative measurements, the engineer can grade the structure
with more certainty. Especially in cases, where processes are hidden
even to the experienced eye of an inspector, e.g., corrosion of strands
inside ducts, testing methods are very much needed. Non-destructive
2 Recent Developments in Condition Assesment, Repair Materials and Repair...
methods are preferred because they will not alter the appearance or
functionality of the structure. Durability of concrete structures is the
main objective for the assessment of existing structures. Safety is an
issue where a sudden collapse of a structure might occur. This kind of
accidents fortunately is very unusual, structure do usually show visi-
ble signs of distress before collapse. However, post tensioned concrete
structures may collapse without warning and endanger lives.
Non-destructive testing can be applied to both old and new struc-
tures. For new structures, the principal applications are likely to be
for quality control or the resolution of doubts about the quality of
materials or construction. The testing of existing structures is usually
related to an assessment of structural integrity or adequacy. In either
case, if destructive testing alone is used, for instance, by removing
cores for compression testing, the cost of coring and testing may only
allow a relatively small number of tests to be carried out on a large
structure which may be misleading. Non-destructive testing can be
used in those situations as a preliminary to subsequent coring.
Typical situations where non-destructive testing may be useful are,
as follows:
• quality control of pre-cast units or construction in situ
1.7 CONCLUSION
Non destructive testing and evaluation is adopted for concrete struc-
tures during its entire life to assess its health. NDT is used for a
number of tasks to locate and quantify a certain damage in a struc-
ture. Basic instruments, advanced methods and combined methods are
available for this task. Proper use and qualified interpretation needs to
be ensured through training and education. Beyond damage detection,
integrated quality control uttilizing NDT techniques is the application
with far reaching benefits. Disaster mitigation is an area where NDT
is of potentially great value. Research is needed to develop the right
tools for such applications.
1.8 REFERENCES
1. ACI manual of Concrete Practice, 2009, Part 6 ACI 506 R.05 to
AC II TG- 5-1-07.
2. Bhaskar S., Srinivasan P., Prabakar J., Neelamegam M., Nagesh
R. Iyer “Corrosion damage studies in cracked RC components
subjected to aggressive chloride environment”, CSIR-SERC -
Research report No. OLP-15241-RR-01, December 2010.
3. Srinivasan P., Murthy S.G.N., Bhaskar S., Wiggenhauser H.,
Ravisankar K., Nagesh R. Iyer and Lakshmanan N., “Applica-
tion of radar and pulse echo for testing concrete structures”, 7th
International Symposium on Non Destructive Testing in Civil
Engineering, Nantes (France), June 30th to July 3rd 2009.
4. Lai W. L., Kind T., Wiggenhauser H., “Using ground penetrating
radar and time-frequency analysis to characterize construction
materials” NDT & E International, Volume 44, Issue 1, January
2011, pp 111–120.
.
Recent Developments in Condition Assessment, Repair Materials and
Repair / Retrofitting Techniques for Concrete Structures
9-11, February 2011, CSIR-SERC, Chennai-113, India. pp 9–22
P. Srinivasan
Assistant Director,
CSIR-SERC Campus, Taramani, Chennai-600 113, India.
Email: sriniv@sercm.org
2.1 INTRODUCTION
Concrete is widely used for the construction of infrastructures such as
bridges, power stations, dams, etc., In the hardened state concrete may
contain defects such as voids/honeycombs, cracks etc., The presence of
voids particularly in the cover zone of a reinforced concrete structure
leads to early corrosion of the reinforcement. Non-destructive testing
in reinforced concrete structure plays a very important role for the
condition assessment of reinforced concrete structures. This includes
identification of defects such as honeycombs, voids, cracks, etc., and,
thickness measurement, location of reinforcements, ducts, etc., The
Ground Penetrating Radar(GPR) technique is a very effective method
for investigating the integrity of concrete, thickness measurement,
reinforcement identification in concrete structures (Krause et al.,1995,
Maierhofer C. et al., 2003, Hevin G., 1998, Johannes Hugenschmidit,
et al., 2006) The Ultrasonic Pulse Echo is a one-sided technique
which can be used effectively for the thickness measurement, local-
ization of reinforcement and ducts, and the characteristics of surface
cracks(Krasue et al., 1997, Christoph Kohl, 2006, Wiggenhauser,2008).
This paper describes the test methods, its advantages and the lim-
itations. Both the methods have been adopted for the evaluation of
different parameters on the large scale NDT test specimen constructed
at CSIR-SERC and the results are presented in this paper.
10 Recent Developments in Condition Assesment, Repair Materials and Repair...
2.5 CONCLUSIONS
The application of radar and ultrasonic pulse echo have been demon-
strated for the thickness measurement, identification of reinforce-
ments, steel embedment, and honeycombs. The B-scans and C-scans
as obtained for the radar measurements gives the reinforcement distri-
bution. The depth slice also provide useful information in identifying
the steel embedment and the PVC conduits. For the radar measure-
ments it was observed that the spacing of the reinforcement affects
the penetration of the waves in to the concrete. The ultrasonic pulse
echo technique provide information on the exact thickness of the con-
crete member. In addition, the embedments such as steel plate or PVC
pipe can be identified. With the radar method, additional research is
required for the effect of spacing and the size of the reinforcement on
the penetration of radar waves in concrete.
16 Recent Developments in Condition Assesment, Repair Materials and Repair...
2.6 ACKNOWLEDGEMENT
The author acknowledge the technical support given by Prof. Herbert
Wiggenhauuser, BAM for the preparation of specimen and also for the
analysis of test results during his stay at SERC, Chennai under the
CSIR- Humboldt Fellowship.
2.7 REFERENCES
1. Krause M., Maierhofer C., Wiggenhauser H., (1995) “Thickness
measurement of concrete elements using radar and ultrasonic
impulse echo techniques”, 6th International conference on struc-
tural faults and repair, Edited by Forde MC, 1997, London, UK,
vol. 1, pp. 17–24.
2. Maierhofer C., (2003) “Nondestructive Evaluation of Concrete
Infrastructure with Ground Penetrating Radar”, Journal of
Materials In Civil Engineering, ASCE, May-June 2003, pp.
287–297.
3. Hevin G., Abraham O., Pedersen HA., Campillo M., (1998)
“Characterization of surface cracks with Rayleigh waves: a
numerical model”, Nondestructive testing and evaluation inter-
national, 31, 1998, pp. 289–97.
4. Johannes Hugenschmidit., Roman Mastrangelo., (2006)“GPR
inspection of concrete bridges”, Cement & Concrete Composites,
28, 2006 pp. 384–392.
5. Krause M., Barmann R., Friedlinghaus R., Kretzschamar F.,
Kroggel O., Langenberg K., Maierhofer Ch., Mu ller W., Neisecke
J., Schickert M., Schmitz V., Wiggenhauser H., Wollbold F.,
(1997), Comparison of pulse echo methods for testing concrete’
NDT & E International 4 (special issue), 1997 pp. 195–204.
6. Christoph Kohl., Doreen Streicher., (2006), “Results of recon-
structed and fused NDT-data measured in the laboratory and
on-site at bridges”, Cement & Concrete Composites, 2006,
pp.402–413.
7. Summary Report of the 2nd Phase Visit of Prof. Wiggenhauser,
Head of Division, Federal Institute for Material Research and
Testing (BAM), Berlin, Germany to SERC, Chennai under CSIR
- Humboldt Reciprocity Research Award for 2006, Report No.
MLP- 12241- CSIR HUMBOLDT 2006, May 2008
Radar and Ultrasonic Pulse Echo for Non Destructive Evaluation of Concrete Structures 17
Display unit
Control unit
Rebars
S. Bhaskar
Scientist
CSIR-SERC, Taramani, Chennai-600 113, India.
Email: bhaskar@Sercm.org.
3.1 INTRODUCTION
Non-destructive testing (NDT) techniques are inscreasingly gaining
popularity for the quality assessment of important structures such as
bridges, roadways, tunnel linings etc. Impact echo was developed in
the mid-1980s is a method based on impact generated stress waves1−2 .
Use of long wavelength low-frequency stress waves of impact-echo
distinguishes with other traditional ultrasonic methods3−4 . In impact-
echo testing, low frequency stress waves from about 1 to 30 kHz are
introduced by a short duration of impact by tapping a hammer or
small steel sphere against a concrete or masonry surface. The waves
propagate into the structure and are reflected by flaws and external
surfaces. Surface displacements, at the impact surface caused by the
arrival of reflected waves due to the generation of a standing wave
are recorded by a transducer, located adjacent to the impact posi-
tion. Both the waveform and frequency spectra will be plotted on the
computer screen. The dominant frequencies that appear as peaks in
the spectrum are associated with multiple reflections of stress waves
within the structure, and they provide information about the thickness
of the structure, its integrity, and the location of flaws5−6 . This paper
investigates the application of impact echo in manual scanning mode
in determining the thickness and also in identifying the flaws/defects.
The specimen used for the determination of thickness and flaws is
an R.C slab which is a part of large NDT model test specimen at
CSIR-Structural Engineering Research Centre (SERC), Chennai.
24 Recent Developments in Condition Assesment, Repair Materials and Repair...
3.2 SUMMARY
This chapter presents the application of impact echo technique for the
determination of thickness and identification of flaws/defects. The test
specimen used is a slab with simulated variabilities such as different
thicknesses, intentionally created defects, etc. From the analysis of
experimental data, it is observed that the thickness obtained is found
to be in close agreement with the actual value. The technique is also
successful in identifying the location of buried pipes/ducts and the
identification of defects. Further, number of studies is needed for the
exact identification of voids, their size, etc.
3.3 REFERENCES
1. Carino, N.J., Impact-Echo Principle, http://ciks.cbt,nist.gov
/carino/ieprin.html
2. Carino, N.J., (2001), “Impact-Echo Method: An Overview”, Pro-
ceedings of the 2001 Structures Congress & Exposition, National
Bureau of Standards.
3. Jennifer R.B. (2001), “Detection of Thickness and Tension Ducts
of Bounded Elements Using Impact-Echo Method”, University of
the Philippines.
4. Sansalone, M., and Carino, N.J., (1989), “Detecting Delamina-
tions in Reinforced Concrete Slabs with and without Asphalt
Concrete Overlays Using the Impact-Echo Method,” Materials
Journal of the American Concrete Institute, March/April, 1989,
pp. 175-184.
5. Chiamen, H., Chia-Chi, C., Tzunghao, L., and Yuanting Juang,
(2007), “Detecting Flaws in Concrete Blocks Using the Impact-
Echo Method”, NDT & E International 41, pp. 98-107.
6. Ertugrul, C., Sadettin, O., and Murat, L., (2005), “An Analysis of
Cracked Beam Structure Using the Impact-Echo Method”, NDT
& E International 38, pp. 368-373.
7. Martyn, H., John, M., and John, D.T., (2000), “Cross-Sectional
Modes in Impact-Echo Testing of Concrete Structures”, Journal
of Structural Engineering, February, 2000, pp. 228-234. Yajai,
T., Miller, P. K., and Olson, L. D. (2008), ’Internal void imaging
using impact-echo’, NDE/NDT for Highways and Bridges, Struc-
tural Materials Technology (SMT), 8-12, Sept. 2008, Oakland,
USA (CD format).
8. Bhaskar, S., Murthy, S.G.N., Srinivasan, P., Wiggenhauser, H.,
Ravisankar, K., Nagesh R. Iyer and Lakshmanan, N., “Reliability
28 Recent Developments in Condition Assesment, Repair Materials and Repair...
Data acquisition
system
Transducer
Steel ball
N
C3
C4
B1
1 5 10 15 20 25 30 35 40
1
10
A A
15
20
2400 2000 3000
25
30
35
40
2000
C2
C1
B2
TOP VIEW
200
100
300 100
2400
3000
SECTION A-A all dimensions are in mm
grid spacing 50mm x 50mm
B2 HONEY COMB B
2 4 6 8 10 12 14 16 18 20 22 24 26 28 30 32 34 36 38 40 42 44 46
Y C2 2 C1
4
50mmØ PVC PIPE(3m LONG)
6
8
10
STEEL
12 11
PLATE
14 CRACKED
16 111 SPECIMEN -2
112mmØ PVC (2.3m LONG)
18
B3
20
22
24
26
28
B4 30
HONEY COMB A
32
34
X 36
X
38
40
42
44
46
B1
TOP VIEW C4
C3
150 250
2400
1500 1500
SECTION X-X
12
Frequency = 10528.5645
10
0
0 1 2 3 4 5 6 7
× 104
Frequency Spectra
3.5
Frequency = 16174.3164
2.5
2
Amplitude
1.5
0.5
0
0 1 2 3 4 5 6 7
Frequency in Hz × 104
Frequency Spectra
60
Frequency = 14801.0254
50
40
Amplitude
30
20
10
0
0 1 2 3 4 5 6 7
Frequency in Hz × 104
Fig. 3.9 B-scan image along a typical line passing over buried
pipes (along x-dir)
Use of Impact Echo Method for Determination of Thickness and Defects in Concrete ... 33
Fig. 3.10 B-scan image along a line passing over buried pipes and
defects
.
Recent Developments in Condition Assessment, Repair Materials and
Repair / Retrofitting Techniques for Concrete Structures
9-11, February 2011, CSIR-SERC, Chennai-113, India. pp 35–58
J. K. Dattatreya
Scientist
CSIR-SERC, CSIR Campus Tharamani, Chennai-600 113, India.
email: datta@sercm.csir.res.in
4.1 INTRODUCTION
The world’s infrastructure is largely built of concrete. For today’s con-
crete structures, we look for materials with four distinctive properties:
strength, workability, durability and affordability. Since ancient time,
mankind has been searching for construction materials with higher
and higher performance so they can build taller, longer and better
structures. The definition ’high performance’ is meant to distinguish
structural materials from the conventional ones, as well as to optimize
a combination of properties in terms of final applications. The need
for new materials with improved properties, which can provide higher
performance, is as imperative now as ever before. To address the prob-
lem of rapid deterioration of infrastructures and massive utilization of
construction materials and in turn natural resources, an exciting alter-
native has emerged in the form of advanced cementitious composites,
which include Slurry Infiltrated Cementitious Composites (SIFCON
and SIMCON), Engineered Cementitious Composites (ECC) and
Ultra High Performance Fiber Reinforced Concrete (UHPFRC). They
are engineered in such a way that the contribution of each constituent
is optimized and results in a synergetic composite performance with
emphasis on strength or strain capacity or energy absorption as the
case may be. The target properties can reach levels unattainable with
conventional concretes. The ultra high strength materials result in
reduced material consumption by virtue of their enhanced strength
characteristics and provide a possibility of using thin sections, slen-
der elements and new geometries. Two distinct approaches have been
explored in an attempt to improve mechanical performance The first
36 Recent Developments in Condition Assesment, Repair Materials and Repair...
4.2 UHPFRCS
UHPFRCCs have a DSP matrix and moderate to high volume of
fibers and possess compressive strength generally exceeding 150 MPa.
The Association Franaise de Gnie Civil Interim Recommendations
for Ultra High Performance Fiber-Reinforced Concretes 2002 states
that UHPC tends to have the following characteristics: Compressive
strength that is greater than 150 MPa, internal fiber reinforcement
to ensure non-brittle behavior, and high binder content with special
aggregates. Further, UHPFRC tends to have very low water content
and can achieve adequate rheological properties through a combina-
tion of optimized granular packing and the addition of high-range
water reducing admixtures.
The recent history of UHPFRC development has been marked by
separate approaches. In chronological order of their appearance, these
are:
1. Compact Reinforced Composites: UHPFRC containing 5 to 10%
of 6 mm (0.2 in.) long and 0.15 mm (6 mils) diameter metal fibers.
This type of concrete was developed by Aalborg Portland (Den-
mark) and has been marketed as Compact Reinforced Composites
(CRC).
2. Reactive Powder Concrete: UHPFRC containing mainly fine reac-
tive powders, such as, silica fume, quartz powder and cement and
quartz sand or other hard aggregates with particle size less than
600μ and a maximum of 2.5% metal fibers which are 6-13 mm
(0.5 in.) long and 0.16 mm (6.2 mils) in diameter. This type of
concrete was developed by Bouygues (France) and has been mar-
keted as Reactive Powder Concrete (RPC). Other UHPCCs of
this type currently being marketed are:
• BSI “Bton Spcial Industriel” (special industrial concrete)
developed by Eiffage, which technology is evolving in asso-
ciation with cement manufacturer Sika ( Ceracem),
• Different kinds of Ductal concrete, including BPR (reactive
powder concrete) resulting from joint research by Bouygues,
Lafarge and Rhodia, and marketed by Lafarge and Bouygues
• BCV being developed by Vinci group in association with Vicat
3. Multi-Scale Fiber-Reinforced Concrete[Rossi, 1997] : UHPFRC
containing mixtures of short and long metal fibers(6-20mm). This
was developed by the Laboratoire Central des Ponts et Chausses
(LCPC, France) and CEMTEC.
38 Recent Developments in Condition Assesment, Repair Materials and Repair...
test results revealed the high capability of the material to seal cracks
and improve its water-tightness with time.
RPC Overlay: Katrin Habel et al [2007] investigated to assess the
rehabilitation potential of RPC for r existing concrete structures. 12
full-sized flexural beams with UHPFRC layer in tension were tested.
UHPFRC significantly improved the composite member structural
response, including the ultimate force, stiffness, and cracking behavior.
Composite UHPFRC-RC elements behaved monolithically under ser-
vice conditions. Interface cracks developed only once localized flexural
macrocracks had propagated through the UHPFRC layer and inter-
sected the interface zone near the ultimate load. The interface cracks
developed into localized debonding cracks for composite elements
without reinforcing bars in the UHPFRC layer (NR beams). Interface
cracks remained sufficiently small and did not cause UHPFRC layer
debonding in elements with reinforcing bars in the UHPFRC layer; 3.
Composite UHPFRC-RC element stiffness and resistance was further
increased when reinforcing bar was embedded in the UHPFRC layer.
A 2 Vol.-% of reinforcing bars were embedded in the UHPFRC layer
and increased the composite element’s apparent hardening magnitude
by three times and significantly delayed the formation of localized
macrocracks. In the UHPFRC softening domain, the force transfer
through the reinforcing bar enhanced the composite element structural
response by preventing debonding.
4.6.1 Applications of ECC to Repair
ECC can find variety of applications. A number of investigations
into the use of ECC in enhancing structural performance have been
conducted in recent years. These include the repair and retrofit of
pavements or bridge decks; the retrofit of building walls to withstand
strong seismic loading and the design of new framing systems These
studies often reveal unique characteristics of ECC and R/ECC (steel
reinforced ECC) in a structural context. These include high damage
tolerance, resistance to shear load, energy absorption, delamination
and spall resistance, and high deformability and tight crack width
control for durability.
Deck Slab in Michigan[Li et al, 2003]: A jointless bridge deck is
created by the replacement of the expandable mechanical joint with
a slab of deck material that is usually called a link slab. In 2001, the
Michigan DOT and University of Michigan (MDOT) assessed the fea-
sibility of implementing an ECC link slab. The Grove Street bridge
Advanced Cement Composites (ACCS)- Production and Application to Repair 45
high shear and spall resistance to avoid integrity loss by diagonal frac-
tures, and (iv) enhanced mechanisms that increases inelastic energy
dissipation. In a recent study, the use of a strain-hardening ECC to
achieve these objectives instead of increased shear steel reinforcement
was investigated [Fig. 4.14].
The hysteretic behavior showed that for the PC hinge, the displace-
ment ductility factor is about 4.8. For the ECC hinge, the displacement
ductility factor increases to 6.4, with less amount of pinching and a
much reduced rate of stiffness degradation. The damage is mostly
in the form of diagonal multiple cracking in perpendicular direction.
Unlike the control specimen which fail in a predominantly shear diag-
onal fracture, the ECC specimen fails by a vertical flexural crack at
the interface between ECC plastic hinge zone and the plain concrete
at the column face.
Resistance to Delamination and Spalling in Repaired Concrete
Structures[Lim et al, 1997]: In patch repairs, the common failure
modes are spalling and/or delamination between the new and old
concrete. In bridge deck or pavements overlay repairs, reflective crack
and spalling in the concrete overlays and/or delamination between the
bonded overlay and the old concrete substrate are often observed. Lee
found that the delamination and spalling modes can be both elimi-
nated by means of a kink-crack trapping process (Fig. 4.15) As the
load increases, the initial interface crack extends slightly but quickly
kinks into the ECC overlay. The kink crack was subsequently trapped
in the ECC so that further load increase forces crack extension into
the interface. The kinking-trapping process then repeats itself, result-
ing in a succession of kink cracks in the ECC. However, spalling of the
ECC was not observed since the kink crack does not propagate to the
specimen surface. Delamination of the interface was also eliminated
since the interface crack tip repeatedly kink into the ECC. In contrast,
the specimen with a regular FRC overlay shows the expected kink-
spall brittle fracture behavior. Fig. 4.15 illustrates the improvement
in load-deflection characteristics.
4.8 REFERENCES
1. Acker P., and Behloul M., “Ductal Technology: a Large Spectrum
of Properties, a Wide Range of Applications”, Proc. Int. Symp.
on UHPC, Kassel, Germany, 2004, pp 11–25
2. Arnon Bentur and Sidney Mindess, “Fiber reinforced Cemeti-
tious composites”, Modern concrete technology series, Taylor and
Francis, Oxon, 2007
3. Bache H. H., Introduction to Compact Reinforced Composite,
Nordic concrete research, No.6, pp 19–33, 1997
4. Bickley J. A., and Mitchell D., (2001), “A state-of -the - Art
Review of High performance Concrete structures Built in Canada:
1990-2000”, pp.96–102
5. Dauriac C., “Special Concrete may give steel stiff competition,
Building with Concrete”, The Seattle Daily Journal of Commerce,
May 9., 1997
6. Ehab Shaheen and Nigel G., Shrive, “Optimization of mechan-
ical properties and durability of reactive powder concrete”, ACI
Materials Journal, Nov. - Dec 2006, pp. 444–451.
7. Fehling E., Bunje K., Schmidt M., Schreiber W., 2004a, “Ultra
High Performance Concrete Bridge across the River Fulda in
Kassel - Conceptual Design, ”, Design Calculations and Invi-
tation to Tender ” Proceedings of the International Symposium
on Ultra High Performance Concrete, Kassel University Press,
Kassel, Germany, pp 69–76
8. Fehling E., and Bunje K., Leutbecher T., 2004b, “Design rele-
vant Properties of hardened Ultra High Performance Concrete,”
Proceedings of the International Symposium on Ultra High Per-
formance Concrete, Kassel University Press, Kassel, Germany, pp
327–338.
9. Guerrini G. L., “Applications of High-Performance Fiber-
Reinforced Cement-Based Composites”, Naaman A. E., Rein-
hardt H. W., ” Proposed classification of HPFRC composites
48 Recent Developments in Condition Assesment, Repair Materials and Repair...
20 mm (a) (b)
(c) (d)
114
16
φ=5
102
127
φ = 10
152
25
16
13
Unit = mm
152
Control RC Beams
20 RC Beams with ECC layer
1.6
15
1.2
10
0.8
5 0.4
0 0
0 0.05 0.1 0.15 0.2 0.25
Meyappan Neelamegam,
S cientist-G
CSIR-SERC, CSIR Campus, Taramani, Chennai-600 113, India.
Email: nellm@serc.org
5.1 INTRODUCTION
In a tropical country like India that has more than 3000 KM of coastal
line and where approximately 80% of the annual rainfall takes place
in the two monsoon months, corrosion related problems are alarming.
In metro cities, the carbon and nitrogen oxide emissions aggravate
the situation further by neutralizing the concrete cover. Typically, a
R.C. Structures require major restoration work within 15 years of its
construction. With the ageing of nation’s infrastructures, many of the
existing concrete structures have outlasted their useful life and it is
rather dangerous to continue to use them without any strengthening,
keeping in view the present day requirements. In recent years, the
concrete construction industry has faced a very significant challenge
in view of the rapid rate of deterioration of infrastructure. One of the
major reasons is that infrastructure is required in such severe exposure
condition where construction activity was not even imaginable earlier.
A large number of bridges, buildings and other structural elements
require repair, rehabilitation and retrofitting. Effect of environment,
increase in both traffic volume and truck weights and re-design and
strengthening of old structures, which may have been adequate as per
old codes of practice but are not structurally adequate as per the
current codes of practice, are all the factors that contribute to the
infrastructure becoming either structurally deficient or functionally
obsolete. Because of the dwindling of resources and serious economic
crunch faced by the construction industry, abandoning of existing
structures/ or replacement by a new construction fulfilling the present
needs, does not seems to be an economical agenda. Hence, the current
60 Recent Developments in Condition Assesment, Repair Materials and Repair...
5.3 POLYMERS
All matter in this world is composed of extremely small units called
molecules. They are too small to be seen even under the most powerful
microscope and are a complex association of atoms. Molecules come in
different sizes and shapes. Molecules of plastics are much larger than
the ordinary molecules. They are giant molecules in the form of long
chain which are called polymers. ‘Poly‘ means many and ‘meros‘ means
parts. Thus polymer means ‘composed of many parts or many units‘.
Each polymer chain is made up of thousands of smaller molecules like
62 Recent Developments in Condition Assesment, Repair Materials and Repair...
a string of glass beads. The small parts or beads in the string are called
monomers (mono means single). They are the building blocks of the
polymer chain. These monomers are organic molecules consisting of
carbon atoms as their base with the atoms of some other elements
like hydrogen, oxygen, chlorine or sulphur sticking to them. All the
monomers in a polymer chain are identical but the monomers of two
different polymers differ in their chemical composition.
5.3.1 Types of Polymers
The distinction between types of polymers is based on their reaction
to heating and cooling.
5.3.2 Thermoplastic polymers
Thermoplastic polymer soften upon heating, and can be made to flow
when a stress is applied. When cooled again, they reversibly regain
their solid or rubbery nature. Continued heating of thermoplastics
will lead ultimately to degradation, but they will generally soften at
temperatures below their degradation points.
5.3.3 Thermosetting polymers
Thermosetting polymers are materials which can be heated to the
point where they would soften and made to flow under stress. How-
ever, they do not revert to the original solid state as the heating
causes the material to undergo a curing reaction. Often, these poly-
mers emerge from their synthesis reaction in a cured state. Further
heating ultimately leads only to degradation and not softening and
flow.
5.3.4 Applications of Polymers
In building construction the application of polymers can be classified
in various ways, for example:
• Nonstructural polymers
• Structural and semi-structural polymers
• Auxiliaries to other materials
The first group constitutes, by far, the greatest volume and
number of different uses. The second group include patch repair,
overlays, linings to concrete/ steel products, injection to structural
cracks, strengthening of structural elements, etc. Auxiliaries include
adhesives, bonding agents, sealants, and decorative and protective
coatings.
Polymer Concrete Composites for Repair and Rehabilitation of Concrete 63
5.11 ACKNOWLEDGEMENT
This paper is published with the kind permission of the Director,
SERC, Chennai. The authors sincerely thank their colleagues and
72 Recent Developments in Condition Assesment, Repair Materials and Repair...
5.12 REFERENCES
1. Neol Mailavaganam, “Repair and Production of Concrete Struc-
tures”, CRC Press, 1991.
2. Dorel Feldman,“Polymeric Building Materials”, Elsevier Applied
Science, London-New York, 575 pp.
3. Satish Chandra and Yoshihiko Ohama, “Polymers in Concrete”,
CRC Press, 1994.
4. Yoshihoko Ohama, “Hand Book of Polymer-Modified Concrete
and Mortars, Properties and Process Technology”, Noyes Publi-
cations, 236 pp.
5. Rajamane N. P., Neelamegam M., Peter J. A., Dattatreya J. K
and Gopalakrishnan S., “Development and Applications of Natu-
ral Rubber Latex Modified Concretes”, Internal Technical Report,
No. MLP 06641/1/97, SERC, March 1997.
6. Bentur A., “Properties of Polymer Latex-Cement Steel Fibre
Composites”, International Journal of Cement Composite and
Lightweight Concrete, Vol. 3, No. 4, 1981, pp 283–289.
7. Viswanatha C. S.,“ Restoration Materials for Concrete
Structures- a recent Trend”, Proceedings of ICI-Asian Confer-
ence on Escasy in Concrete (ICI-ACECON-2000), Nov. 2000,
Bangalore, India, pp 393–400.
8. Oshiro T., Yamada Y., Tanigawa S. and Goto N., “Deterioration
of R.C Buildings Under Marine Environment”, Concrete Under
Severe Conditions and Loading, Vol. 1, E & FN Spon, pp 523–532.
9. Fowler D.W., “Status of Concrete-Polymer-Materials”, proceed-
ing of the vi International Congress on Polymers in Concrete,
Shangai, China, 1990, pp 10–27.
10. Shaw, J.D.N., “Concrete Decay: causes and Remedies”, proceed-
ing of the Seminar on Corrosion and deterioration in Concrete,
1991.
11. “New Millinium New Material, FRPs”, Concrete Engineering
International, Vol. 2, No. 8, Nov-Dec. 1998, pp 29–31.
12. Ir. Bart Herrelen, Triconsult N. V. and Ir.Kris Brosens, “CFRC
Roof Repair” Concrete Engineering International, Vol. 2, No. 2,
March 1998, pp 55–56.
Polymer Concrete Composites for Repair and Rehabilitation of Concrete 73
Table 5.2 Ordinary mortar and PAE mortar, SBR mortar physics
mechanics performance
S.No Physical & Mechanical Ordinary PAE SBR Remark
property mortar mortar mortar
1 Compressive strength 50.1 47.7 42.5
(MPa)
2 Flexural strength (MPa) 8.8 10.4 9.5
Patch Material
Concrete
Corrosion-Inhibiting
Coating Material
Impregnant
Hardened Hardened
OH– Epoxy Epoxy Microcracks
Resin Resin
After mixing of epoxy-modified Self-capsuled Partially breaking of self-capsuled
mortar without hardener epoxy resin epoxy resin and microcracking of
cement hydrate matrix
Hardened Hardened
Self-Repaired
Epoxy Epoxy
Microcracks
Resin OH– OH– Resin
Protective Coating
2nd Resin Coat
Carbon Fiber
1st Resin Coat
Epoxy Putty Filter
Primer
Concrete Substrate
6.1 INTRODUCTION
Concrete is the most widely used man-made material in the world.
The production of cement, the main active ingredient of concrete,
releases approximately one ton of CO2 for one ton of Portland cement
consumed. As one of the most energy-intensive materials and its expo-
nential growth in production and utility in the developing countries, it
is incumbent on the concrete manufactures to arrest further damage
to the environment by drastically reducing or eliminating OPC con-
sumption. The Conservation of rapidly dwindling natural resources
and promotion of sustainable development through gainful utilization
of industrial byproducts are the primary objectives of the Construction
industry today. Efforts are underway all over the world to develop envi-
ronmentally friendly construction materials, which make minimum
utility of fast dwindling natural resources and help to reduce green-
house gas emissions. In this connection, geopolymer cement concretes
show great promise.
6.3 APPLICATIONS
Fig 6.2 shows the successful applications carried out since 1979 with
geopolymer cements of different types20
Geopolymer cementitious products are currently being developed
in the following areas21 :
• civil construction applications -stabilized fill, pavement materials,
and soil stabilization;
• building materials - bricks, blocks, tiles, pavers, lightweight/fire
retardant/acoustic panels, pipes, precast concrete products and
ready mixed concrete products;
• mining–paste back-fill, tailings; dams,-liners, capping media;
shotcrete, and acid resistant concrete;
• environment / waste management–impermeable barriers, encap-
sulation of domestic, hazardous, radioactive and contaminated
materials in a very impervious, high strength material; and
• specialist applications–rapid set binders, very high strength
binders, lightweight products, super flat floors, low shrinkage,
and acid resistant storage facilities.
Geopolymer cements have been around since quite a few decades
and some trace it to the time of the Ancient Egyptians and yet are
Investigations on Geopolymer Concrete and its Application for Repair 81
The results obtained from the flexure testing of these samples indi-
cate that the system is resistant to scaling conditions. The flexural
strength and ductility of the specimens were determined before and
after exposure to the scaling conditions. Comparable results were
observed regardless of the type of carbon reinforcement used.
Evaluation of plain concrete strengthened with an inorganic
geopolymer coating and subjected to wetting and drying and scaling
conditions led to the following conclusions:
• The inorganic matrix in combination with carbon tows and
carbon fabrics can be used to strengthen plain concrete members
• Wetting and drying conditions (100 cycles) do not decrease the
strength of samples coated with carbon reinforced geopolymer.
• Strengthened samples exposed to scaling conditions had a small
(about 3%) decrease in strength from their exposed strength.
Field durability and demonstration application:
Field durability
Durability under field conditions was evaluated using two locations
at the Rutgers University Campus in New Brunswick, New Jersey. A
total of 18 test applications were made. Most of the surfaces were on
vertical walls and some of them were on relatively smooth concrete
surface, Fig. 6.14 a-e. In the case of vertical walls, the surface deterio-
ration varied from a weathered but good concrete surface to completely
spelled surface. In addition to surface deterioration, a second major
variable was fiber type and fiber volume content. Both micro and dis-
crete fibers were evaluated at volume fractions ranging from 0.5 to
20%. All but two coatings were applied using paint brushes while the
other was applied using sprayers.
These applications served as demonstration projects confirming
that very little surface preparation is needed. All these surfaces were
cleaned with low pressure water and allowed to dry to saturated
surface dry conditions before applying the coating. All but two coat-
ing were applied using paint brushes. One coating was applied using
a custom made sprayer and another coating was applied using an
inexpensive sprayer. The coating was applied between March and
November to evaluate the influence of temperature range.
The second set of coatings was applied on the parking lot on Busch
Campus, Fig. 6.15. These curbs had a good surface except in one case;
part of the curb was broken. The surface was simply wetted before
Investigations on Geopolymer Concrete and its Application for Repair 89
6.7 REFERENCES
1. Davidovits, J. (1994). “High-Alkali Cements for 21st Century
Concretes in Concrete Technology, Past, Present and Future”,
Proceedings of V. Mohan Malhotra Symposium. Editor: P.
Kumar Mehta, ACI SP-144, 383–397.
2. Bakharev, T. (2005a). “Resistance of Geopolymers Materials to
Acid Attack”, Cement and Concrete Research, 35 (6), 658–670.
3. Bakharev, T. (2005b). “Geopolymeric Materials Prepared Using
Class F Fly Ash and Elevated Temperature Curing”, Cement and
Concrete Research, 35(6), 1224–1232.
4. Bakharev, T. (2005c). “Durability of Geopolymer Materials in
Sodium and Magnesium Sulfate Solutions”, Cement and Concrete
Research, 35 (6), 1233–1246.
5. Rangan.B. V, Hardjto, D, Development and properties of low cal-
cium fly ash based geopolymer concrete. Research report GC-1,
Faculty of Engineering, Curtin University of Technology, Perth,
Australia, 2005.
6. N. P. Rajamane, J. K. Dattatreya, Ambily P. S. and D. Sabitha,
“Technical feasibility studies on Geopolymer based building
blocks/ Pavers and fly ash aggregate based building prod-
ucts”, SSP 07241, Prepared for AEON’S Construction Products
Limited, Chennai.
7. Dattatreya J. K., Bharathkumar, B. H., and Rajamane, N. P.,
“Geopolymer Cement Concretes- A Viable and Green Alternative
Investigations on Geopolymer Concrete and its Application for Repair 93
Fig. 6.3 (a) and (b) An Inside view of ACPL Production Yard
and Stacking of GPC blocks Produced on Steel Shelves
12.5 5 layers
Failure load
(tonnes)
3 layers
10
2 layers
7.5
Control
3
Failure load as a fraction of
unexposed control sample
Control
2.5
2 percent
2 4 percent
1.5
1
0.5
0
0 50 100
Cycles of wet-Dry
1.5
1
0.5
0
0 50 100
Cycles of wet-Dry
Control
2.5
2 Tows
2 3 Tows
1.5
1
0.5
0
0 50 100
Cycles of wet-Dry
Fig. 6.9 Comparison of Failure Loads: Control, 1 and 2 carbon
fabric layers
1 in Dam
0.25 in
Concrete
2 in specimen Saline solution
13 in
Fig. 6.10 Schematic of Scaling Test Specimen
104 Recent Developments in Condition Assesment, Repair Materials and Repair...
3
Failure load as a factor of
Control
2.5 1 Tow
2 Tows
2 3 Tows
1.5
1
0.5
0
0 50
Cycles of Scaling
Control
Failure load as a factor of
1 layer
2
2 layers
1.5
1
0.5
0
0 50
Cycles of Scaling
Fig. 6.13 Comparison of Failure Loads: Control, 1 and 2 Carbon
Fabric Layers
Investigations on Geopolymer Concrete and its Application for Repair 105
Fig. 6.20 (a) Column after cleaning (b) Column wrapped with
carbon tape (c) During final coating application (d) Column after
final coating
Recent Developments in Condition Assessment, Repair Materials and
Repair / Retrofitting Techniques for Concrete Structures
9-11, February 2011, CSIR-SERC, Chennai-113, India. pp 109–134
7.1 INTRODUCTION
Random oriented fibre reinforced concrete is one of the most promising
composites used in the construction. Generally, for structural applica-
tions, steel fibres should be used in a role supplementary to reinforcing
bars. Steel fibres relatively inhibit cracking and improve resistance to
material deterioration as a result of fatigue, impact, and shrinkage
or thermal stresses. In applications where the presence of continuous
reinforcement is not essential to the safety and integrity of the struc-
ture (e.g., floors on grade, pavements overlays and shotcrete linings),
the improvements in flexural strength, impact resistance, and fatigue
performance associated with the fibres can be used to reduce section
and to enhance performance or both. Some full-scale tests have shown
that steel fibres are effective in supplementing or replacing the stirrups
in the beams.
The mechanical properties of fibre reinforced concrete (FRC) are
influenced by: the type of fibre; fibre length to diameter ratio(aspect
ratio); the amount of fibre; strength of matrix; the size, shape and
method of preparation of the specimen; and the size of the aggregate.
Fibres influence the mechanical properties of concrete and mortar in
all failure modes. The commonly available shapes of steel fibres are
straight, crimped, hooked, trough shaped. The strengthening mecha-
nism of the fibres involves transfer of stress from the matrix to the fibre
by interfacial shear or by interlock between the fibre and matrix, if the
fibre surface is deformed. Besides the matrix itself, the most important
variables governing the properties of FRC are the efficiency factor and
the fibre content. Fibre efficiency is controlled by the resistance of the
110 Recent Developments in Condition Assesment, Repair Materials and Repair...
ft = fm (1vf ) + 2(l/d)vf
where, ft and fm are tensile strength of the composite and the matrix,
respectively, vf the percentage of fibres by volume, l/d the aspect
ratio, and, the average interfacial bond strength. Tensile strengthening
occurs at all fibre contents as long as 2τ (l/d) > fm .
112 Recent Developments in Condition Assesment, Repair Materials and Repair...
7.2.3 Flexure
According to ACI Committee Report 544(4R) 1, the influence of steel
fibres on the flexural strength of concrete and mortar is much greater
than for direct tension and compression. Two flexural strength values
are commonly reported. One corresponds to the first crack and the
other corresponds to the maximum load. For large amounts of fibres,
the two loads are quite distinct, but for very small fibre volumes, the
first crack load may be the maximum load as well.
Ultimate flexural strength generally increases in relation to the
product of fibre volume concentration and the aspect ratio l/d. Con-
centrations less than 0.5 volume percent of low aspect ratio fibres
have negligible effect on the static flexural strength properties. Pris-
matic fibres, or hooked or enlarged end fibres, have produced flexural
strength increases over unreinforced matrices of as much as 100%. A
post cracking load deformation characteristic depends greatly on the
choice of fibre type and volume percentage of the specific fibre type
used.
Crimped fibres, surface deformed fibres and fibres with end anchor-
age produce strengths above smooth fibres of the same volume
concentration, or enable same strength to be achieved with lower fibre
concentration.
The first crack composite flexural strength (σcf ) and ultimate
composite flexural strength (σcu ) of SFRC are given by 1:
σcf = 0.843fr Vm + 2.95Vf .l/df
σcu = 0.97fr Vm + 3.42Vf l/df
where, fr is the stress in the matrix (MPa); Vm is the volume fraction
of the matrix; Vf is the volume fraction of the fibres; and l/df is the
aspect ratio
Hughes and Fattuhi8 examined the effect of addition of various
types of steel fibres upon the flexural strength and fracture toughness
of basic concrete matrix at three different ages. It was seen that maxi-
mum increase in the first crack flexural strength and ultimate flexural
strength were 15% and 85% respectively.
Craig9 investigated the elastic and inelastic behaviour of SFRC
beams. Thirteen beams consisting of normal concrete, high strength
concrete, and light weight concrete with and without fibres were
tested. The test results were verified by theoretical analysis. It was
reported that there is an increase in first cracking load, the stiffness of
the beam and ductility of the beams with the presence of the fibres.
Advances in Fibre Reinforced Concrete and its Applications 113
7.2.8 Impact
Impact is a complex dynamic phenomenon involving crushing, shear
failure and tensile fracturing. It is also associated with penetration
perforation and fragmentation end scaling of the target being hit. The
addition of fibres improved the impact resistance of the plain concrete
to a great extent. The improvement in the strength is dependent on
the fibre type and fibre volume fractions.
As there is no acceptable standard method for determining the
impact resistance of SFRC, several tests have been used, namely,
weighted pendulum Charpy type impact test, drop weight test,
rotating impact test, blast impact test, projectile impact test and
instrumented impact test. The simplest of the impact tests is the
drop weight test. This test yields the number of blows necessary to
cause prescribed levels of distress in the test specimen. The test can
be used to compare the relative merits of different fibre concrete mixes
and to demonstrate the improved performance of FRC compared to
conventional concrete25 .
A simple, portable, and economical test has been devised by
Schrader26 . This impact test equipment and procedure has been pub-
lished in the report by ACI committee 544. The test is currently under
consideration for inclusion as an ASTM standard. Ramakrishnan et
al27 have done a comparative evaluation of concrete reinforced with
three different types of fibres. The Schrader’s drop weight impact test-
ing equipment was used. The test results showed considerable scatter,
Advances in Fibre Reinforced Concrete and its Applications 117
7.2.9 Abrasion/Cavitation/Erosion
Both laboratory tests and full scale trials have shown that SFRC has
high resistance to cavitation force resulting from high velocity water
flow and the damage caused by the impact of large water borne debris
at high velocity. Tests at the Waterways Experiment Station (USA)
indicate that steel fibre addition do not improve the abrasion/erosion
resistance of concrete caused by small particles at low water velocities.
This is because adjustments in the mixture proportions to accom-
modate the fibre requirements reduce coarse aggregate content and
increase paste content.
N-m, withstood by the 100mm thick panels with weld mesh at 25mm
deflection is obtained with 50mm thick SFRS panels having fibre vol-
ume of 0.5 percentage. Since the energy absorption of SFRS panels is
much higher than that of weld mesh shotcrete panels, to match the
energy absorption of 100mm thick weld mesh shotcrete panels, it would
be sufficient to provide 50mm thick SFRS panels resulting in savings
in concrete. As already pointed out, with fibre shotcreting, shotcrete
can be placed to follow the exact contours of the tunnel which would
result in additional savings in materials and due to elimination of weld
mesh placement, time of execution could be considerably reduced.
7.4.3 Beam-Column Joint
Ductility at beam-column joints or connection is desirable in reinforced
concrete frames under seismic loading. Ductility at joints is generally
achieved by providing closely spaced horizontal or diagonal ties of
hoops, but this causes difficulty in placing concrete in densely rein-
forced portions, which results in bad concreting, leading to failure of
core concrete under seismic type of loading. Steel fibre reinforced con-
crete, which possesses high ductility, toughness and tensile strength,
can be considered to replace the plain concrete in the portion of the
joint. Hence, investigations were carried out at SERC, Chennai to
study the influence of fibres to eliminate the congestion of reinforce-
ment in the joint portion of the exterior beam-column joint under
static as well as cyclic loading. A constant axial load of 300 kN was
applied on the column having both its ends hinged and the beam was
loaded at the free end. It was found that:
• The SFRC is very effective in the beam column connections and
the replacement of shear reinforcement at the joint portion by
SFRC did not decrease the shear capacity.
• There is increase in the strength capacity of joint by 20% in the
case of SFRC specimens.
• The SFRC joints behaved better under cyclic loading and with-
stood 5 cycles (for 1.0% fibres) and 7 cycles (for 1.5% fibres)
against one cycle of loading of joints without fibres before failure.
• From the investigations, it is recommended that the spacing of
stirrups at the beam-column joint can be increased to twice that
of design spacing with the addition of 1.0% fibres in the joint
portion for exterior beam-column joint.
124 Recent Developments in Condition Assesment, Repair Materials and Repair...
7.7 CONCLUSION
The most significant influence of incorporation of fibres in concrete
is to delay and control the tensile cracking of concrete. Thus, inher-
ently unstable tensile crack propagation in concrete is transformed into
a slow and controlled crack growth. The addition of fibres improves
the static flexural strength, flexural fatigue strength, impact strength,
shock resistance, ductility, and flexural toughness of concrete. The
designer may best view FRC as a concrete with improved mechanical
properties. However, the increase in these properties will vary from
substantial to nil depending on the quality and types of fibres used;
in addition, the properties will not increase at the same rate as fibres
are added.
Steel fibre reinforced concrete has been used with considerable
success in paving, hydraulic, and shotcreting applications, and the
indications are that its use, at least in paving and shotcreting, is
likely to increase. There are also signs of increasing interest in using
steel fibres in a variety of precast products. There has been grow-
ing interest in utilizing natural fibres for making low cost building
materials in recent years. Alkali resistant glass fibres have generated
world-wide interest and are considered as a possible replacement for
asbestos fibres.
7.8 ACKNOWLEDGEMENT
The author is thankful to Director, CSIR-SERC for granting permis-
sion to deliver the lecture.
7.9 REFERENCES
1. Report by ACI committee 544, ‘Design Consideration for Steel
Fibre Reinforced Concrete’, ACI Structural Journal, Sep Oct
1988, pp 563–580.
2. Krishna Raju N., Basavarajaiah B. S., and Janardhan Rao,
K., ‘Compressive Strength and Bearing Strength of Steel Fibre
Reinforced Concrete’, Indian Concrete Journal, June 1977, pp
183–188.
128 Recent Developments in Condition Assesment, Repair Materials and Repair...
39. Semsi Yazici, “Effect of aspect ratio and volume fraction of steel
fiber on the mechanical properties of SFRC”, Construction and
Building Materials. Vol. 21, Issue 6, June 2007, pp 1250–1253.
40. Wang, X. W., “Research on Fracture-CMOD Toughness of Steel
Fiber Reinforced Concrete”, Advanced Materials Research, Vol.
168, No. 70, pp 1784–1787.
41. Xu, B. W., “Correlations among mechanical properties of steel
fiber reinforced concrete”, Construction and Building Materials,
Vol. 23, Issue 12, December 2009, pp 3468–3474.
42. Piti Sukontasukkul, “Post-crack (or post-peak) flexural response
and toughness of fiber reinforced concrete after exposure to high
temperature”, Construction and Building Materials Vol. 24, Issue
10, October 2010, pp 1967–1974.
43. Kazuo Watanabe, “Effect of Elevated Temperatures on Flexural
Behaviour of Hybrid Fibre Reinforced High Strength Concrete”,
Journal of Structural Fire Engineering, Vol. 1, No. 1, 2010 pp
17–27.
Table 7.1 Results of Static Flexural Tests on SFRC Beams 14
Load at (kN) Apparent
Fibre % Volume Ave. Cube First Maximum (Ultimate)
Type of Fibre Compressive Crack m Flexural
Strength Strength
(MPa) (MPa)
Table 7.3 Details of Various Sifcon Mixes and the Test Results
Mix Proportion Compressive Split Tensile
(Cement : Sand: Strength (28 days), Strength,
w/c: SP:VMA) MPa MPa
1 : 1: 0.40 : 0.5% 29.375 2.398
SNF : 0.125%
1 : 1: 0.35 : 0.3% 38.945 2.557
PC: 0.125%
1 : 1.5 : 0.40: 0.7% 29.012 2.49
SNF : 0.125%
1 : 1.5: 0.35 : 0.4% 33.648 2.456
PC: 0.125%
8000
l/df = 83
6000
Vf = 3%
4000 Vf = 2%
2000 Vf = 1%
Control (1 psi = 0.0068 MPa)
0
0 5000 10000 15000 20000
Axial strain, millionths
Fig. 7.1 Stress strain Curve for steel fiber reinforced concrete
Advances in Fibre Reinforced Concrete and its Applications 133
60.0
50.0
40.0
Load (kN)
30.0
20.0
COM6
10.0 TA1
SA2
CA1
0.0
0 10 20 30 40
Deflection (mm)
Fig. 7.2 Load deflection plot for reinforced concrete beams with
different steel fibers (1% by Volume)
45.00
40.00
35.00
30.00
Stress [MPa]
25.00
20.00
15.00
10.00
5.00
0.00
0 0.002 0.004 0.006 0.008 0.01 0.012 0.014 0.016 0.018 0.02
Strain
90
80
70
Strass (MPa)
60
50
40 Straight
30 Crimped
Hooked
20
FRC 1%
10
0
0 0.005 0.01 0.015 0.02
Strain (mm/mm)
8.1 INTRODUCTION
Majority of the civil engineering structures in the world are being
built using Reinforced concrete (RC) and Prestressed concrete (PSC).
However, structures constructed in aggressive environments, such as,
structures in marine and coastal regions, chemical industries, water
and waste water treatment facilities and bridges often undergo deteri-
oration in the form of cracking and spalling of concrete due to corrosion
of steel reinforcement. Repair of such structures are always costly and
require much effort and time. Also, after the earthquake in Bhuj,
on 26th January 2001, there has been a concerted effort to address
the seismic vulnerability of existing buildings in India. Large areas of
our country have been reclassified and upgraded to higher zones in
the recent revision of IS codes, which essentially requires undertaking
national programme on evaluation and retrofitting of existing multi-
storied buildings. Common conventional techniques for strengthening
structural elements include, concrete jacketing, shotcreting/guniting
and steel plate bonding. The limitations posed by conventional
strengthening techniques have given an impetus to researchers to
innovate and develop new materials/techniques for structural reha-
bilitation. The quest for new materials to replace the reinforcing steel
and for structural rehabilitation has led to the development and appli-
cation of man-made fibre reinforced plastic (FRP). Until recently, the
uses of FRP were limited to aerospace and defense industries due to
the high cost. With recent developments in the manufacturing process
of FRP, it can now compete with conventional concrete constructions
materials.
136 Recent Developments in Condition Assesment, Repair Materials and Repair...
In the wet cycle, the rebars were immersed in 3.5% NaCl solution for
3.5days and in the drying cycle, the rebars were dried at atmospheric
temperature for another 3.5 days. The cycle was continued till a spe-
cific level of corrosion is achieved (10% and 20% for second and third
series respectively). A reduction in weight loss of 10% and 20% were
noticed after 135 and 260 days exposure, respecively.
Five RC slabs were cast using corroded rebars (10% loss in weight).
Out of five slabs in the second series, one slab was tested to failure
and all the remaining slabs were tested up to service load level. One
of the slabs (second series) was repaired afterwards using single layer
of CFRP. The repair methods adopted in the remaining slabs are as
follows: CFRP in the form of 100mm wide strips at 300c/c in both
directions, GFRP bars in orthogonal direction at 300c/c, GFRP bars
parallel to diagonal of the slab.
The reinforcement used for the third series were those which had
lost 20% weight due to corrosion. The slab specimens were cured for
28 days before under taking up the strengthening work. The first slab
(S3-1) was tested without any strengthening (Control Specimen), the
second specimen (S3-2) was strengthened with CFRP sheets along the
diagonals, and third specimen (S3-3) was strengthened with CFRP
sheets in both the directions. All the three slabs were tested by
applying an equivalent uniformly distributed load. The second slab
in the third series which consisted of 20% corroded reinforcement was
strengthened with CFRP sheets of 250 mm width along the diagonals
and tested. The strength and deformation characteristics of repaired
slab using CFRP was found to be better than the control slab (Fig.
8.4). Based on the studies, it is possible to draw a conclusion that the
corroded slab may be restored to its normal strength conditions by
CFRP wrapping techniques.
Based on the experimental investigations on corroded RC slabs, the
following conclusions were made:
• The slabs in which corrosion was induced by the method of
impressed current recorded a greater decrease in the maximum
load. This may be due to the fact that impressed current affects
the strengthened concrete in cover region.
• The behaviour of the slabs in the initial stages does not differ
much with corrosion though the behaviour at later stages differs
considerable. Hence, the failure in the slab will be sudden and
catastrophic.
Fibre Reinforced Polymer (FRP) in Civil Engineering Applications 145
the rupture of the CFRP wraps which results in the sudden drop in
the load. Hence, one has to be very caution while strengthening the
flexural member using FRP wrapping.
and very less axial deformation takes place (Tighiouart et.al. 1998).
Hence, anchorage and anchor alignment have a significant importance,
as they may cause undesired failure modes. GFRP rebars also did not
exhibit any yielding when tested under tension. The tensile strength
and stiffness of GFRP bar were dependent on several factors, such as,
the ratio of the volume of the fiber to the resin matrix. Different test
methods for determining the tensile strength of the GFRP bars are
available in the literature but not yet established by any standards-
producing organizations (Kocaoz 2005, Canstro and Carino, 1998).
An anchorage system consisting of a steel pipe filled with an expan-
sive cementitious grout (epoxy resin mortar) was used to provide
confinement pressure on the bar. Required length of GFRP specimens
was taken and a length of 300mm at both the ends was encapsulated
using steel pipes for better anchoring. Plastic caps were used to close
the ends of the pipes and to keep the bar in the center of the pipe.
The pipe was filled with expansive grout in this position and it needed
24 hours to harden so that the specimen could be turned and the sec-
ond anchor prepared (Fig. 8.7). The test was conducted on a servo
controlled universal testing machine; the hydraulic grip pressure was
applied at both ends. The axial deformation was measured with the
help of an extensometer (Fig. 8.8).
From the stress strain plot, it was clearly seen that the tensile
stress-strain characteristics of HYSD rebars were different from the
stress-strain behaviour of GFRP rebars. For HYSD rebars, the tensile
stress-strain relationship can be idealized as bi-linear and inelastic
whereas the same for the GFRP rebar is linear and elastic till failure.
It was found that the plain bars exhibited slippage at anchorage and
did not fracture. In the case of 10mm ribbed bar, fracture was observed
when the applied stress was more than 650 MPa. The young’s modulus
of plain GFRP rebar and ribbed GFRP rebar were 55GPa and 38GPa
respectively (Fig. 8.9). The 10mm and 12mm diameter GFRP bars
behaved similarly under direct tension.
8.5.2 Evaluation of Bond Strength using Beam Test
Bond tests using beams were performed in accordance with the
RILEM specifications RC5-1978. Test beams consisted of two rect-
angular blocks of reinforced concrete joined at the top by a steel ball
joint and at the bottom by the reinforcement (GFRP or steel rebar)
to be tested for bonding with the concrete (Fig. 8.10).
Fibre Reinforced Polymer (FRP) in Civil Engineering Applications 149
The test was conducted in a 1000kN UTM. The test beam resting
on the two end supports was loaded by two point loads of equal mag-
nitude disposed symmetrically with regard to the mid span as per the
requirement. Two dial gauges of 0.001mm sensitivity were properly
clamped at either end of the rebar in such a way that both the rebar
and dial gauge stem were in the same horizontal level. The load was
applied gradually and the dial gauge readings were noted at regular
intervals. The tests were continued until complete bond failure of the
bars or until the bar fractured. The load slip curves relating to the two
half beams were plotted. The average bond strengths at two levels of
slippage, namely, 0.01, 0.1mm and the maximum bond strength were
evaluated as follows The stress in the rebar was calculated using the
relationship
1.25F
Stress in the bar(σs ) = for specimens having
As
diameter of bars in the 10 − 16 mm range
σs As
Bond stress(τd =
πΦld
where, F is the total load corresponding to required amount of slip,
As is the nominal area of the bar and ld is the bonded length of bar
The bond strength of 12 mm diameter ribbed GFRP rebars was
2.6 and 2.3 times the bond strength of 12mm diameter HYSD rebars
at 0.01mm and 0.1mm slip respectively, whereas the maximum bond
strength was around 1.1 times that of HYSD rebars. The bond strength
of 12mm diameter ribbed GFRP rebars was found to be 1.6 and 1.2
times the bond strength of 12mm diameter TMT rebars at 0.01mm and
0.1mm respectively, whereas the maximum bond strength was almost
equal. This may be due to the fact that the ribbed GFRP rebars had
rough surface in addition to the ribs. Plain GFRP rebars exhibited
very low bond strength when compared to the ribbed GFRP, HYSD
and TMT rebars. The plain GFRP rebars also failed in bond for very
low magnitude of loads.
8.5.3 Flexural Behaviour of RC Beams Reinforced GFRP
Rebars
From a static point of view, the position of steel rebars within the cross
section does not furnish a good contribution in terms of strength, while
its contribution is effective in terms of ductility and rigidity. Besides,
150 Recent Developments in Condition Assesment, Repair Materials and Repair...
the use of steel reinforcements allows one to design the beam as under -
reinforced, with a limited amount of FRP reinforcement. The behavior
of a hybrid GFRP-steel reinforced beam was recently analyzed by New
hook, 2000; the yielding of steel ensures the ductility, and the strength
of the GFRP increases the ultimate capacity after steel yielding. Aielo
et al. (2002) showed that steel reinforcement in combination with FRP
reinforcement is advantageous from a deformability point of view. An
adequate amount of steel reinforcement within the cross section, in
fact, allows for the reduction of the deformability of FRP reinforced-
concrete beams under service conditions. (Nehdi et al.2005), made
an effort to investigate the performance of GFRP and hybrid steel-
GFRP reinforced beam column joints. (Krishnamoorthy et al.2006)
studied the performance of RC slabs reinforced with a combination
of both GFRP and steel rebars and found that the load deflection
characteristics are similar to the HYSD rebars.
The experimental studies were carried out to evaluate the flexural
behavior of RC beams reinforced with GFRP rebars in the con-
crete cover region along with steel reinforcement as the main tension
reinforcement (Bharatkumar et.al. 2007). In all, four beams of size
150 × 300 × 3000mm were cast and tested under four point bending,
which included one control beam reinforced with HYSD rebar and
having a 75mm cover. Ribbed type GFRP rebars of 10 mm and 12
mm diameters were used in the investigation. The covers provided
for the steel rebars and the GFRP rebars were 75 mm and 20 mm
respectively. The experimental investigation was carried out on four
reinforced concrete beams, one reinforced with only HYSD rebars, one
reinforced with only GFRP rebars, and two reinforced with a combina-
tion of GFRP and HYSD rebars. The Load deflection plots of beams
reinforced with only GFRP (G1) rebar and the control beam (Control)
are shown in Fig. 8.11. The Load deflection plots of beams reinforced
with a combination of HYSD and GFRP rebars and the control beam
(Control) are shown in Fig. 8.12. It was concluded that the use of steel
reinforcement in combination with FRP reinforcement was advanta-
geous from deformability point of view. An adequate amount of steel
reinforcement within the cross section, in fact, allows for the reduction
of the deformability of GFRP reinforced-concrete beams under service
conditions. The increase of stiffness was more evident for beams rein-
forced with GFRP rebars placed near the outer surface of the tensile
zone and HYSD rebars placed at the inner level of the tensile zone
compared to the RC beams reinforced with only GFRP rebars. The
results of the investigation goes to prove that in situations where larger
Fibre Reinforced Polymer (FRP) in Civil Engineering Applications 151
8.7 ACKNOWLDEGEMENT
This lecture note is being published with the kind permission of
the Director, CSIR-Structural Engineering Research Centre, Chennai.
Authors wish to thank all the staff member of Advanced Materials
Laboratory for their help.
8.8 REFERENCES
1. ACI Committee 440R-96, “State-of-the-Art Report on Fibre
Reinforced Plastic (FRP) Reinforcement for Concrete Struc-
tures”, ACI Manual, 1996.
2. Majumdar A. J. “Alkali-Resistant Glass Fibres”, Handbook on
Composites, Vol. 1, Edited by Wall W. and Perov B. V., Elsevier
Publication, Amsterdam, 1993, pp 61–85.
3. Nanni, A, “Fibre Reinforced Plastics Reinforcements for Concrete
Structures”, Elsevier Publication, 1993.
4. Bakis, C. E. “FRP Reinforcements: Materials and Manufac-
turing”, Fibre Reinforced Plastic Reinforcements for Concrete
Edited by A Nanni, 1993, pp 13–58.
5. Meyer, R. W., “Hand Book on Pultrusion Technology”, Chapman
and Hall Publications, New York, 1985.
6. Ko E. K., “Braiding”, Section 8 of Engineering Materials Hand
Book, Vol. 1, Composties, ASM International, 1987, pp 519–528
152 Recent Developments in Condition Assesment, Repair Materials and Repair...
19. Teng J.G., Chen J. F., Smith S. T., Lam L., “FRP Strengthened
RC Structures”, 2002, John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.
20. ACI 440.1R-03, “Guide for the Design and Construction of Con-
crete Reinforced with FRP Rebars”, ACI, Farmington, Michigan,
2001.
21. Nanni A, Bakis, C. E and Boothby T. E, “Test Methods for FRP-
Concrete Systems Subjected to Mechanical Loads: State of the
Art Review”, Journal of Reinforced Plastics and Composites, Vol.
14, 1995, pp 424–557.
22. Tighiouart B., Benmokrane B., and Gao, D., “Investigation of
bond in concrete member with fibre reinforced polymer (FRP)
bars”, Construction and Building Materials 1998;12;453-462.
23. Ramesh G., Sundar Kumar S., Bharatkumar B. H., Krishnamoor-
thy, T. S., “Experimental Studies on Flexural Behaviour of RC
Beams”, Proc. of International Conference on Advances in Mate-
rials Mechanics and Management 2010 at College of Engineering
Trivandrum, during January 2010, pp 134–141.
24. Sundar Kumar, S., Ramesh, G., Bharatkumar, B. H., and Krish-
namoorthy, T. S., “Performance of FRP Strengthened Reinforced
Concrete Columns at Various Levels of Reinforcement Corrosion
- an Experimental Study” International Journal of 3R; Repair
Restoration and Renewal of Built Environment, Vol. 1, No. 3,
July-September 2010, pp 95–101.
25. Kocaoz S., Samaranayake V. A., and Nanni, A., “Tensile char-
acterization of glass FRP bars”, Composites: Part B 2005;36;
127–134
26. Castro F., and Carino, J., “Tensile and Non Destructive Testing
of FRP bars”, Journal of Composites for Construction 1998;17-27
27. RILEM CEB FIP. Test of the bond strength of reinforcement of
concrete: test by bending. Recommendation RC.5, 1978:5.
28. Newhook, J. P, “Design of under-reinforced concrete T-sections
with GFRP reinforcement”, Proc., 3rd Int. Conf. on Advanced
Composite Materials in Bridges and Structures, 2000, pp 153–
160.
29. Aielo M. A, Ombres L., “Structural Performances of Concrete
Beams with Hybrid (Fiber-Reinforced Polymer-Steel) Reinforce-
ments”, Journal of Composites for Construction, 2002, 6(2), pp
133–140.
30. Nehdi M, Said A., “Performance of RC Frames with Hybrid
reinforcement under Reversed Cyclic Loading”, Materials and
Structures, July 2005, 38, pp 627–637.
154 Recent Developments in Condition Assesment, Repair Materials and Repair...
S3-3
80
60
40
20
0
0 5 10 15 20 25 30
Defln. (mm)
Fig. 8.9 Stress Strain Pot for GFRP and HYSD Rebars
J. Annie Peter
Deputy Director
CSIR-SERC, CSIR Campus Taramani, Chennai-600 113, India.
annie@sercm.csir.res.in
9.1 INTRODUCTION
Self Compacting Concretes (SCC)s are being used more and more to
build new structures as they have a very high degree of compactabil-
ity. They facilitate the casting of densely reinforced sections that are
difficult to consolidate. Such concretes accelerate the placement rate
and result in superior surface quality and durability. Self compacting
concrete can also be used for repair of damaged/deteriorated elements
presenting difficulties for placement and consolidation and is feasible
to produce high quality concrete with limited degree of surface defects,
in stability and cracking. This can be accomplished by removing the
deteriorated concrete and pouring SCC into the watertight formworks
assembled in-situ so that the geometry of the damaged elements can
be fully restored upon removal. This method is economical when large
volumes of repair are carried out. However, the repair can prove to
be successful only if the repair material i.e., SCC interacts well with
the parent concrete and forms a durable barrier to guard against re-
initiation of problems further arising, since a dimensionally unstable
repair material is placed against a dimensionally stable substrate con-
crete, as no significant drying shrinkage and creep is likely to exist
in the substrate concrete due to its long term exposure to the envi-
ronment and the service loading. Hence, properties such as shrinkage,
creep and elastic modulus are considered important for specification
of repair materials. These properties are largely related to the con-
stituents of the mix. Hence, it is essential to optimize a SCC mix by
considering both the fresh and hardened concrete properties and strike
a balance between the two.
160 Recent Developments in Condition Assesment, Repair Materials and Repair...
demand for higher powder content. They are useful in enhancing the
deformability and stability of the fresh SCC. Their large surface area
gives a corresponding increase in internal forces resulting in an increase
in the cohesiveness of the concrete. Further being spherical they act as
ball bearings to lubricate the mix giving it a greater mobility. Due to
improved packing contributed by the very small size of the particles,
aggregate cement interface is stronger when mineral admixtures are
present. The concretes will be homogeneous and dense and hence is
less susceptible to segregation. This results in improved strength and
impermeability. Concretes incorporating these admixtures develop less
heat due to hydration. The main chemical effects of mineral admixture
addition to concrete are a reduction of calcium, potassium and sodium
hydroxides due to pozzolanic reactivity. They act as nucleation sites
for C-S-H. The main physical effect on the microstructure of hardened
concrete is the refinement of the pore structure. Another important
factor is the improvement in quality of the transition zone between
the aggregate particles and cement pastes.
Due to high surface area and high content of reactive silicon dioxide
in silica fume, metakaoline and rice husk ash, they are more reactive
than fly ash and GGBS. They are usually incorporated into concrete
at 5-15% by weight of total binder. Fly ash and GGBS have less of
SiO2 content, are coarser and hence less reactive. These admixtures
are used in higher dosages of 30 to 50 % of the binder content.
For these admixtures to be effective, uniform distribution in con-
crete is essential. Further due to their high fineness an increased water
demand is likely. Hence these admixtures should always be used in
conjunction with a superplasticiser.
Conformity of these admixtures with the respective codes should be
ensured. As different sources of these mineral admixtures may interact
with different efficiency, trials to establish the optimum dosages of
these materials may often be required.
Inert fillers like limestone powder are frequently used to make
SCCs.
Chemical Admixtures
Superplasticisers
The role of superplasticisers or High range water reducers (HRWRs) is
much more significant in Self Compacting Concretes. To produce SCC
at very low levels of water-cement ratios without needing unacceptably
high cement contents the use of superplasticisers is required. These are
high molecular weight water soluble polymers. These admixtures work
Self-Compacting Concrete as a Repair Material 163
This section covers test methods and apparatus used for assessment
of self compactability of fresh SCC so that they can be placed satisfac-
torily without compaction. Most of these methods enable a rapid and
cost effective assessment of SCC and have been accepted universally.
However, a combination of tests is to be carried out systematically to
establish the Flowing Ability, Filling Ability, Passing Ability and Seg-
regation Resistance for the development of SCC mixtures as shown in
Table 9.2. No single test has been proved capable of measuring all the
characteristics. Typical maximum and minimum ranges of test values
for acceptance of SCC are shown in Table 9.3.
9.1.6 Tests Methods for Flowing Ability
Slump flow (including T50 time), V-funnel and Orimet can be used to
determine the flowing ability.
Orimet Test
The Orimet test is a practical test method for rapid assessment of fill-
ing ability and uniformity of fresh SCC mixes. The orimet is a simple,
rugged, durable, easily maintained and portable apparatus with good
simulation of movement of fresh SCC during placing in site.
The apparatus consists of a vertical casting pipe of 120 mm internal
diameter fitted with an interchangeable orifice at its lower end. A
quick- release tap door is used to close the orifice. For concretes with
aggregate of 20 mm maximum size the orifice diameter is normally
70 mm to 80 mm. An integral tripod supports the casting pipe (Fig.
9.2). A sample of approximately 7.5 litres of fresh concrete is required.
A bucket having a volume of at least 10 litres to collect the concrete
discharged from the Orimet and a stop watch with accuracy of 0.2 s
to measure the flow time (FT) is required for the test.
The Orimet is set on firm ground and ensured that the trap door
is closed. Concrete is poured into the casting pipe. A bucket is places
under the trap door. Open the trap door within 1 minute of filling the
pipe and simultaneously start the stopwatch. Stop the stopwatch as
soon as all concrete has emptied when viewed from top of the pipe.
High values of flow time indicate mixes of high viscosity. A mix of
low segregation resistance can cause coarse aggregate to settle in the
orifice area, increase greatly the FT or cause a blockage and a partial
/ intermittent flow.
V Funnel Test
The V funnel is used to determine the filling ability (flowability) of
SCC. It is not applicable if the maximum size of aggregate exceeds 25
mm.
The equipment consists of a V-shaped funnel as illustrated in Fig.
9.3. The funnel is of rectangular cross section of 490 mm × 75mm at
top tapering to a bottom opening of 65 mm × 75 mm. The discharge
orifice of the funnel is equipped with a trap door. The funnel is made of
steel or acrylic and placed vertically on a supporting stand. A sample
of fresh concrete of approximately 12 litres is required. A bucket with
a capacity of 15 litres to receive the concrete under the funnel and a
stop watch with an accuracy of 0.1 s is also required.
The trap door of the funnel is closed and concrete filled in the
funnel. Start the stop watch on opening the tap door. The time taken
for the concrete to flow out of the funnel is recorded. A high flow time
168 Recent Developments in Condition Assesment, Repair Materials and Repair...
U-Box
The test is used to measure the filling ability of SCC.
The apparatus consists of a vessel which is divided by a middle
wall into two compartments (Fig. 9.6). A sliding gate is fitted at the
bottom of the wall. Deformed reinforcing bars with nominal diameters
of 13mm are installed at the gate with centre to centre spacing of 50
mm. This creates clear spacing of 35 mm between the bars. The test
requires a volume of approximately of 20 litres. Stop watch and a
measuring scale are required when performing the test.
Initially close the partition gate in the U-box. Concrete is poured
into the first compartment. The concrete is leveled. After the elapse of
1 minute open the gate by sliding the door upwards to let the concrete
sample flow to the second compartment through the clearance of the
reinforcement bars installed at the gate. Record the time from the
opening of the gate till the completion of flow of the concrete. The
height of concrete in the second compartment is measured.
The concrete is considered to achieve a good filling ability when the
filling height of concrete is approximately 300 mm If the filling height
is significantly less than 300 mm the concrete does not have sufficient
filling ability.
has just covered the first top obstacle. After the concrete has come to
rest measure the height at the side at which the container is filled
on two places and calculate the average height (h1). Repeat this on
the opposite side (h2). The difference in height between two sides of
the container is a measure of the filling ability. Calculate the average
filling percentage. Average filling %F = [(h1 = h2)/2 h1]*100
9.1.9 Test Methods for Segregation Resistance
Segregation in SCC tends to show as a non-uniform distribution of
aggregates, particularly concerning coarse aggregate, which may settle
at the bottom. The Orimet and V-funnel test can also detect severe
static segregation when coarse aggregate settles and prevents complete
flow of the sample.
Wet Screen Stability Test Method
The test quantitatively measures SCCs resistance to segregation, by
determining how much separation occurs between the coarse aggregate
and the mortar in a sample of concrete .The test consists of taking a
sample of 10 litres of concrete, allowing it to stand static for a period
of 15 minutes to allow any internal segregation to occur. Next pour 2
litres of the concrete on to a 5 mm sieve of 350 mm diameter, from a
height of 500 mm which stands on a sieve pan on a weigh scale. Record
the weight of the sample. Allow 2 minutes for the concrete flow through
the sieve. After 2 minutes, the mortar which passed through the sieve
is weighed and expressed as a percentage of the weight of the original
sample on the sieve.
A concrete where less than 5% of the sample passes the sieve has
a high resistance to segregation. Such a concrete may be too viscous
to be able to fill minute voids, and will almost certainly result in poor
quality finished surface. A concrete where 5-15% of the sample passes
the sieve can possess optimum amount of resistance to segregation
(satisfactory stability). A concrete where 15-30% of the sample passes
the sieve is likely to be susceptible to segregation (critical stability).A
concrete where more than 30% of the sample passes the sieve is likely
to be susceptible to severe segregation (very poor stability).In addition
,it is not acceptable if bleed water is detected during the test. This
induces a risk of settlement, washing out and modified permeability.
9.1.10 Details of typical SCC mix for repair
A SCC mix which contains more coarse aggregate content will exhibit
lower drying shrinkage and creep and higher elastic modulus. Similarly,
the free shrinkage of repair materials decreases when cured in water.
Self-Compacting Concrete as a Repair Material 171
A typical SCC mix which can be used for repair which comprises of
ordinary Portland cement of 53 grade, 10 mm maximum size gravel,
a medium graded sand, superplasticizers and polypropylene fibres to
control shrinkage cracks is given in Table 9.4.
9.2 REFERENCES
1. Rilem Report 23, Self-compacting Concrete -State -of-the-art
Report, (2000) Ed. by A. Skarendahl and O. Petersson.
2. Rilem Report 24, Workability and Rheology of fresh Concrete:
Compendium of tests, (2002) Ed. by P. J. M Bartos, M. Sonebi
and A. K. Tamimi.
3. EFNARC (2002) Specifications and Guidelines for Self Compact-
ing Concrete.
4. Lea’s Chemistry of Cement and Concrete (1998), Ed. by Peter
C.Hewlett.
Table 9.1 JSCE 2002 Manual for Mixture Proportioning of SCC
Recommendations
Constituents Powder type VMA type Combination type
Coarse aggregate 0.28 to 0.35 m3 /m3 0.28 to 0.36 m3 /m3 0.28 to 0.35 m3 /m3
Water content 155 to 175 kg/m3 - -
w/p 28-37% by mass of - -
cement or 0.85 to
1.15 by volume of
cement
Powder content 0.16-0.19 m3 /m3 - > 0.13m3 /m3
Air content (for frost 4.5% - -
resistance)
172 Recent Developments in Condition Assesment, Repair Materials and Repair...
Constituents Ranges
Coarse aggregate 28-35 % by volume of the mix
Water/powder 0.8-1.1 (by volume)
Powder content 400-600 kg/m3 (160-240 litres/m3 )
Cement content 350-450 kg/m3
Air content 20%
Slump cone
mm
00
10
500 mm
1000 mm
490 (515) mm
75 mm
425 (450) mm
212.5 (225) mm
65 mm
100
200 Unit: mm
600
0 Rebars 3 Φ 12mm
Gap 35 mm
200
H1
0-200
H2 150
0-100
800
Middle Wall
2400Pa
45 cm
Concrete Sliding Door
59 cm Reinforcing Bars
R1 (D13 mm)
R2
Filling
14 cm Height
14 cm 14 cm
28 cm 4@5cm = 20cm
Placement
Guide hopper
φ 16mm
6@50 = 300 mm
h1
h2
J. PRABAKAR
Scientist
CSIR-SERC, CSIR Campus, Tharamani, Chennai-600 113, India.
Email: Prabakar@sercm.org
10.1 INTRODUCTION
During the past several decades, concrete structures had suffered from
safety and serviceability problems due to deterioration of concrete.
Generally concrete is a very durable material, the environmental fac-
tors such as weathering action, chemical attack, abrasion and other
deterioration process may change the properties of concrete with time
when rebar is embedded into the concrete. The deterioration of Rein-
forced Cement Concrete (RCC) Structures is due to the corrosion of
steel used in concrete. Corrosion of reinforcing steel results in the
build-up of voluminous corrosion products generates internal stresses
which lead to cracking and spalling of the cover concrete. The param-
eters which influences the corrosion process in RCC structures are the
cover thickness, the quality of concrete,, environmental conditions, pH
and chloride levels and presence of cracks etc. The main causes of rebar
corrosion are due to ingress of chloride ions or diffusion of CO2 gas,
from atmosphere. A lowering of the pH by penetration of free chloride
ions through the concrete cover to the steel, or by the carbonation of
the concrete cover due to penetration of atmospheric carbon dioxide,
can cause breakdown of the passive layer.
In general, good quality concrete provides an excellent protection
for steel reinforcement. The steel used in concrete are remains in
passive state due to high alkalinity of concrete. The time to initiate cor-
rosion is determined largely by the amount and the quality of concrete,
cover thickness as well as permeability of concrete. Once de-passivation
occurs, corrosion propagation is governed by anodic, cathodic and/or
electrolytic properties of corrosion cell. The rate of chloride diffusion
178 Recent Developments in Condition Assesment, Repair Materials and Repair...
F e → F e2+ + 2e −
F e2+ + 2Cl− → F eCl2
F ecl2 + 2OH → F e(OH)2 + 2Cl−
2F e(OH)2 + 1/2O2 → F e2 O3 + 2H2 O
Chloride ions can enter into the concrete from de-icing salts that
are applied to the concrete surface or from seawater in marine envi-
ronments. Other sources include admixtures containing chlorides,
contaminated aggregates, mixing water, air born salts, salts in ground
water, and salts in chemicals that are applied to the concrete surface.
If chlorides are present in sufficient quantity, they disrupt the passive
film and subject the reinforcing steel to corrosion (Steven F Daily).
Carbonation Attack : Moisture content in concrete plays an impor-
tant role for chemical process of carbonation. The relative humidity
of concrete around 60 to 75% is favour for the progress of carbonation
(Verbeck, 1958). The chemical reaction takes place as shown below.
F e → 2e− + F e + + (Anode)
1/2O2 + H2 O + 2e− → 2(OH −) (Cathode)
4F E(OH)2 + 2H2 O + O2 → 4F e(OH)3 (RedRust)
3F e + 8OH − → F e2 O4 + 8e − +4H2 O (BlackRust)
• Ultrasonic test
• GCOR6
• Galva Plus
• Permeability test
Rp = (Δ/Δl)ΔE → 0
Mechanism of Corrosion and Repair of Corrosion Damaged Concrete Structures 187
From this slope, the corrosion rate can nbe determined using Stern-
Geary equation
Icorr = B/Rp
• PVC injection ports shall be placed along the surface of the cracks
and are secured in place with an epoxy sealant.
• The centre to centre spacing of these ports may be approximately
equal to the thickness of the member.
• After the sealant has cured, a low viscosity epoxy resin shall be
injected into one port at a time, beginning at the lowest part of
the crack in case it is vertical or at one end of the crack in case
it is horizontal.
• The resin shall be injected till it is seen flowing from the opposite
sides of the member at the corresponding port or from the next
higher port on the same side of the member.
• The injection port should be closed at this stage and injection
equipment moved to the next port and so on.
The smaller the crack, higher is the pressure or more closely spaced
should be the ports so as to obtain complete penetration of the epoxy
material throughout the depth and width of member. Larger cracks
will permit larger port spacing, depending upon width of the member.
This technique is appropriate for all types of structural elements such
as beams and columns. In the case of loss of bond between reinforcing
bar and concrete, if the concrete adjacent to the bar has been pulverizd
to a very fine powder, this powder will dam the epoxy from saturating
the region. So it should be cleaned properly by air or water pressure
prior to injection of epoxy.
10.7.2 Wider Cracks
For cracks wider than 5 mm or for regions in which the concrete has
crushed, a treatment other than injection is indicated. The following
procedure may be adopted.
• Removal of loose material and replaced with any of the materials
i.e., expansive cement mortar, quick setting cement or gypsum
cement mortar
• If found necessary, additional shear or flexural reinforcement is
provided in the region of repairs. This reinforcement could be
covered by mortar to give further strength as well as protection
to the reinforcement
• In areas of very severe damage, replacement of the member or
portion of member can be carried out.
• In the case of damage to walls and floor diaphragms, steel mesh
could be provided on the outside of the surface and nailed or
Mechanism of Corrosion and Repair of Corrosion Damaged Concrete Structures 191
10.8 NOTE
• Leakage of cement slurry through shutter joints should not occur
and ensure perfect shuttering and in case of any gap at bottom
of the shuttering, make the gap sealed.
• Slight tapping can be made on the out side of the shuttering
during pouring of self compacting concrete (SSC) to remove air
voids if any.
• Water Curing must be done immediate after 24 hours by
wrapping gunny bags for a minimum period of fifteen days.
10.9 CONCLUSIONS
The reinforcement corrosion in concrete needs serious consideration by
the designers and constructors. The information discussed in this notes
on corrosion of steel reinforcement in concrete shall bring awareness
and understanding of the mechanism certainly help to take appropri-
ate precaution at the design and construction stage itself. The use of
proper materials and repair methods for strengthening the structure
is highlighted.
10.10 REFERENCES
1. Advanced Course on ’High Performance Materials and Method-
ologies for Construction and Rehabilitation of Concrete Struc-
tures’ , Organized by Structural Engineering Research Centre
(SERC), during January 19-21, 2000.
2. ACI manual of Concrete Practice, 2009, Part-6, ACI 506R-05 to
ACIITG-5.1-07.
3. Allan P. Crane, Editor “Corrosion of reinforcement in concrete
construction”, Ellishorwood Ltd., Chichester, 1983.
4. Hewlett, Arnold, “Lea’s chemistry of cement and concrete”, pp
1053 - 1087, 1998.
5. Mohammad A. El-Reedy, “Steel reinforcement concrete struc-
tures”, Assessment and Repair of Corrosion, available on internet,
http://hotfile.com/dl/57030679/6450a06/1420054309.zip.htmlpp,
2007.
6. Steven F. “Daily Understanding Corrosion and Cathodic Protec-
tion of Reinforced Concrete Structures” (http://www.estig.ipbeja.pt/
pdnl/ Sub-paginas/Conservacao%20de%20edificios files/Documentos/
Material%20de%20apoio/Betao/corrosao.pdf).
Mechanism of Corrosion and Repair of Corrosion Damaged Concrete Structures 195
O2 H2O
OH¯ OH¯
Fe2+
Cement Matrix
t p depends on:
• availability of O2
• availability of H2 O
Significant Level of Damage • OH - concentration
Degree of Corrosion
t i depends on:
• cover depth
• w/c ratio Rate of
• curing regime Corrosion
• cement type
• environment temperature
Propagation
Initiation Period ( ti) Period (t p)
Design Life = t i + t p
Fig. 10.2 Service Life model for design life (Tutti, 1982)
Mechanism of Corrosion and Repair of Corrosion Damaged Concrete Structures 197
12
Neutralised Normal
Concrete Concrete
11
10
pH indicated
pH
by phenolpthalein
9
Depth at which
passivationis lost
7
0 10 20 30 40 50
Depth from Surface, mm
V
Corrosion
Potential
Reference
Electrode Cu/CuSO4
Sponge
Steel Rod
Concrete
a
I
V P = 2πa V/I
Current
flow Equipotential
line
11.1 INTRODUCTION
Construction activities account for a major component of the budget
in developing countries, including India. Cement concrete is the most
extensively used material for the construction of large infra-structural
facilities world-wide. Significant distress or deterioration is being
observed in Reinforced Concrete(RC) structures, such as bridges,
multi-storeyed buildings, hyperboloid cooling towers and chimneys,
particularly in coastal regions even well within their expected life
span. Concrete despite its inherent deficiencies, is the most extensively
used material for the construction of large infrastructure facilities.
In the foreseeable future, there seems to be no alternative to con-
crete as a construction material. Ensuring durability of concrete is
one of the important issues to be addressed in evolving strategies to
bring about sustainable development. Maintenance and repair of con-
structed facilities is presently a growing problem globally, involving
significant expenditure. Strengthening, upgrading and retrofitting of
existing structures are among the major challenges that modern civil
engineering field is facing these days. The building deficiencies can be
broadly classified as Local Deficiencies and Global Deficiencies.
Local deficiencies are element deficiencies that lead to the failure
of individual elements of the buildings, such as, crushing of columns,
flexural and shear failure of beams etc. Unaccounted loads, inadequate
confinement, unauthorized alterations, poor quality of construction,
poor detailing, lack of anchorage of reinforcement, inadequate shear
reinforcement, insufficient cover, inadequate compaction and curing,
etc., and environmental deterioration are reasons for local deficiencies.
200 Recent Developments in Condition Assesment, Repair Materials and Repair...
11.4 SUMMARY
In order to rehabilitate and improve the corrosion resistance of Finger
jetty, half cell potential and UPV measurements were conducted on
the various structural elements. Based on the analysis of the half cell
potential readings and UPV values, a repair methodology was designed
which included micro concrete jacketing and provision of Galvanic
anodes. The following are the conclusions drawn based on the post
repair investigations:
The UPV measurements clearly reveal that the integrity of the
concrete in the rehabilitated structural elements of the Finger jetty
is good, indicating the efficiency of the micro concrete jacketing tech-
nique designed and executed. The Finger jetty has not shown any
distress on account of corrosion even after a period of nearly 2 years
as evident from the half cell potential readings taken at every 6 month
interval. The provision of galvanic anodes i.e. the galvanic protection
system is performing well in the Finger jetty and from the pattern of
the half cell potential readings observed over a period of 2 years, it
may be concluded that this may continue to perform well for a few
more years without causing any problem. In addition to that, even if
the corrosion were to reoccur after probably 5 years, it is required only
to cut open the particular place to install another piece of Galvanic
anode, instead of resorting to a expensive large scale rehabilitation
Repair and Retrofitting of RC Structures - Case Studies 207
Fig. 11.4 A view of the half cell potential test in progress on the
pile cap
Fig. 11.6 View of the positioning of Galvanic anode, form work &
jointing compound
Cylindrical barrel
structure
Concrete pedestal
supporting upper bracket
P. Srinivasan,
Assistant Director
CSIR-SERC, CSIR Campus, Taramani, Chennai-600 113, India.
E-mail: sriniv@sercm.orgs
12.1 INTRODUCTION
Concrete as a versatile material has high adaptability to satisfy
many aspects in civil engineering structures such as functional needs,
economy, maintenance, aesthetic acceptability, and protection against
corrosive environment and fire. When a fire has occurred, the require-
ments are generally for an immediate and thorough appraisal carried
out with clear objectives. Such an appraisal must begin as soon as the
building can be inspected and generally before the removal of debris.
The fire resistance of a concrete structure is frequently well above its
minimum requirements, and hence rehabilitation by repair will, there-
fore, be preferable to demolition and rebuilding. Rehabilitation may
require less capital expenditure than demolition and rebuilding and
may also provide a direct saving as a result of earlier re-occupation.
The compressive strength of concrete is reduced to 25% of its
unfired value when heated to 300◦ C and 75% at 600◦ C and the elastic
modulus also gets reduced in the same manner (The Concrete Society,
1990). The temperature estimation based on the color change seems to
be the traditional practice for fire-damaged concrete members. When
concrete is heated above 300◦C, the color of concrete changes from
normal to pink or red (300-600◦C), to whitish grey (600-900◦C) and
buff (400-1000◦ C).
The idea of making an assessment of the fire-damaged concrete
structure is to arrive at the estimation of temperature, extent of
damage to concrete and reduction in the strength of concrete and rein-
forcement The stiffness damage test (SDT) has been used to study the
change in strength of concrete affected by fire (Nassif, 1995). The study
212 Recent Developments in Condition Assesment, Repair Materials and Repair...
12.6 CONCLUSION
A systematic investigation using visual observation and in-situ testing
by ultrasonic scanning together with the tests on core samples and on
reinforcement samples will adequately help to assess the condition of
a fire-affected reinforced concrete structure in a more appropriate and
economical way. Depending upon the damage caused, the structure
can be restored.
12.7 REFERENCES
1. The Concrete Society, “Assessment and Repair of fire-damaged
concrete structures”, Technical Report 33, The Concrete Society
London., 1990.
2. Nassif A. Y., et al., “A new quantitative method of assessing fire
damage to concrete structures” ,Magazine of Concrete Research,
47, No.172, 1990 pp 271–278.
3. Wei-Ming Lin T. D., Lin ., and Powers-Couche L. J., “Microstruc-
tures of Fire-Damaged Concrete” ACI Materials Journal, V.03,
No.3, 1996, pp 199–205.
4. Short N. R., Purkiss J. A., and Guise S. E., “Assessment of fire
damaged concrete”, Construction and Building Materials, Vol.15,
2001 pp 9–15.
218 Recent Developments in Condition Assesment, Repair Materials and Repair...
105 stress
Undamaged 561.5 465.00 8 12.13 - -
Slightly 510.0 430.00 9.0 1.97 7.53 300
Severe 400.0 265.0 30.0 1.86 28.8 500
3.23 2.15 3.15 2.90 2.67 2.15 2.82 3.36 3.23 3.00 2.95 3.53 A
2.62 1.97 2.24 2.14 1.99 2.19 2.29 2.75 2.95 2.20 1.85 2.67 B
2.13 1.59 1.87 1.37 1.49 1.49 1.57 1.48 1.32 1.08 1.39 1.45 C
1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 Grid
Note: 1.Size of beam - 400 × 400 × 4500 mm 2. Estimated Temperature - 300 to 400◦ C 3.
Depth of correction - 40 to 50 mm
K. Muthumani
Head-Advanced Seismic Testing and Research Laboratory,
CSIR-SERC, CSIR Campus, Taramani, Chennai-600 113, India.
Email: Kmm@sercm.org
13.1 INTRODUCTION
The interest in the ability to monitor a structure and detect dam-
age at the earliest possible stage is pervasive throughout the civil,
mechanical, and aerospace engineering communities. For the purposes
of this discussion, damage is defined as changes introduced into a sys-
tem which adversely affects the current or future performance of that
system. These systems can be either natural or man-made. However,
depending on the levels of exposure, these systems may not show the
adverse effects of this damaging event for many years or even future
generations. Implicit in this definition of damage is that the concept of
damage is not meaningful without a comparison between two different
states of the system, one of which is assumed to represent the initial,
and often undamaged, state. The need for quantitative global damage
detection methods that can be applied to complex structures has led
to the development and continued research of methods that examine
changes in the vibration characteristics of the structure. The current
state of aging infrastructure and the economics associated with its
repair have also been motivating factors for the development of meth-
ods that can be used to detect the onset of damage or deterioration at
the earliest possible stage. Finally, technological advancements includ-
ing increases in cost-effective computing memory and speed, advances
in sensors including non-contact and remotely monitored sensors and
adaptation and advancements of the finite element method represent
technical developments that have contributed to recent improvements
in vibration-based damage detection. Additional factors that have con-
tributed to these improvements are the adaptation and advancements
224 Recent Developments in Condition Assesment, Repair Materials and Repair...
1 x0
the relation ξ = 2πn loge xn
x is the initial amplitude and x is the
amplitude after n cycles.
gauge accelerometers are based on the peizo resistive effect and make
use of semi-conductive strain gauges where change in resistance is
proportional to the applied stress. Unlike a metallic strain gauge, the
peizo resistor has a resistance change, which is large compared to
its change in length due to applied stress. Unfortunately it tends to
be highly temperature sensitive and an elaborate temperature com-
pensation effect is required. The frequency response of peizo-resistive
accelerometers extends to zero frequency and they can be calibrated
by rotation in the earth’s gravitational field.
Servo accelerometer (Force Balanced Accelerometer) is the most
precise and costly transducer. It employs an inertial mass which is
free to move in one axis by means of a pivot or hinge. The displace-
ment of the mass is sensed by some form of inductive or capacitive
non-contacting displacement transducer and the resulting signal is
amplified and applied to a torque or force generator in such a sense
as to tend to restore the mass to its original position. Phase shift
is normally introduced in the feed-back loop and this electrically
controls the damping, The loop gain controls the spring constant elec-
trically. The moving element and the hinge are made of quartz and
have stable mechanical properties. Such accelerometers are capable of
resolving micro-g and find application as sensing elements in complex
aeronautical and marine inertial navigational systems.
13.6.2 Velocity Transducers
The velocity transducers employ the principle of emf generation by a
moving flux system in a coil. They are constructed such that the mag-
net is supported within the coil by means of springs (Fig. 13.1). The
arrangement is similar to an accelerometer, but unlike an accelerome-
ter, which is used below its natural frequency, the velocity transducer
is used above its natural frequency. Their useful frequency range is
10-1000 Hz The main application of these transducers is for machine
monitoring. Their inherent ruggedness, reliability and self-generating
characteristics make them ideally suitable as in-built pickups on the
bearing of high frequency machines. They do not require elaborate
amplifiers and the simple voltage amplifiers are sufficient and the
cost of the pickup and the amplifiers is very small compared to the
acceleration measuring systems.
13.6.3 Displacement Transducers
The linearly variable differential transformer (LVDT) type consists of
a three winding transformer with a moveable core attached to the
Condition Assessment of Concrete Structures Subjected to Vibration 229
is lying close to the operating speed, and this has to be moved away.
Stiffening of the girder is infeasible. Adding dampers also poses con-
siderable problem. Added to this, the installation is frequently visited
by VIPS, and the repair measure envisaged shall not be an eye sore.
Adding mass at a distance from the centre of rotation and below the
beam level is not possible due to the piping systems and other auxiliary
equipment in place. An out of the box thinking led to the suggestion
that the hood covering the equipment in the segment around the bear-
ing location can be used. It was suggested that about a tonne of mass
can be shaped in the form of hood and rigidly bolted to the beam.
The centre of mass of the hood is at a large distance from the centre
of rotation, and can significantly contribute to the mass moment of
inertia. The above thought was implemented in the FEM model and
found to be feasible. The suggestion has since been implemented, and
has avoided the problem of excessive axial amplitude at the bearing
location.
13.9.3 Integrity Evaluation of Bridge Structures
Bridges in coastal areas are corrosion prone and the alternating cycles
of stress imposed on the bridges by the moving loads accentuate the
corrosion process. The bridges are subjected to vibration by the mov-
ing loads, which are chaotic in space and time. The vibration signals
of the bridge at significant points are composed of the mixed mode
response of the bridge. The frequency synthesis of the response signal is
likely to show the frequency components at the first few flexural modes
of the bridge and also at its torsional mode. The continuous monitor-
ing of the averaged response signal over a period is likely to show the
decrease in natural frequencies of the bridge due to degradation in the
sectional properties of the bridge.
13.9.4 Integrity Evaluation of Pile Foundations through Stress
Wave Propagation Method
The wave propagation is the mechanism by which a transiently excited
pulse travels through an elastic medium. A steady state vibration can
also be characterized as standing wave pattern with the superposition
of the incoming and outgoing waves. The stress waves can be classi-
fied as uniform and dispersive waves. The wave velocity of a uniform
wave is a material property and independent of the frequency of exci-
tation whereas a dispersive wave has wave velocity dependent on the
frequency of excitation. For example the axial stress wave travelling
through a prismatic rod is of uniform type whereas the flexural or
Condition Assessment of Concrete Structures Subjected to Vibration 235
shear wave travelling through the same rod is of dispersive type. For
example a square shaped flexural pulse generated through a lateral
impact on a rod will have its time base elongated as the wave travels
as the high frequency component travels fast. However if the impact
is an axial one, the shape of the square pulse is retained and there will
be amplitude decay.
If a small impact is given to a rod and the response is sampled
at a high rate (in terms of micro seconds) the observed response will
be as in fig. with the reflected wave arriving at the impacted point
for every 2l/c time interval. (’c’ is the wave velocity of the axially
propagating wave and is equal to E/ρ. In the case of a deformity in
the pile due to necking or enlargement at a depth of ’a’ from the pile
head, the propagating wave has a momentum and energy imbalance
at the suddenly changing cross section and to preserve the original
energy and momentum a reflection takes place. The total wave energy
is forked and is transformed as reflected and and refracted forms. This
principle is made use of in the geotechnical application, towards non-
destructive testing of pile foundations. The magnitude of the reflected
wave from the pile deformity is proportional to the reduction in the
area and its length. (Fig. 13.4)
13.10 REFERENCES
1. Bendat, J., Piersol, S., Random Data: Analysis and Measurement
Procedures, John Wiley NY, 1986, USA.
2. Gatti, P., Ferrari V., Applied Structural and Mechanical Vibra-
tions Theory, Methods and Measuring Instrumentations, E & FN
Spon, 1999, London.
3. Norton M. P, Fundamentals of Noise and Vibration Analysis for
Engineers.
4. Lyon R. H, DeJong R. G, “Design of a High Level Diagnostic Sys-
tem”, Jl. of Vibration, Acoustics, Stress and Reliability in Design,
1984.
5. Stewart, R. M, “Application of Signal Processing Techniques to
Machinery Health Monitoring”, Chapter-23 Noise and Vibration
edited by R. G. White and J. G Walker, 1982, Ellis Horwood.
6. Cooley, J. W., Tuckey, J. W., “An algorithm for machine cal-
culation of Complex Fourier Series”, Jl. of Mathematics of
Computaion, Vol-19, 1965.
7. Bloch, H. P, Geitnet F. K., Machinery Failure Analysis and
Trouble-shooting, Gulf Publishing, Houston, USA, 1986.
236 Recent Developments in Condition Assesment, Repair Materials and Repair...
Piezo-electric
effect
Magnet as mass
Seismic Mass Electric coil
Output
Excitation
Secondary
Primary
Core
0.7
0.6 Excitation :# 1 -Response: # 4
Excitation :# 4 -Response: # 1
0.5
0.4
0.3
0.2
0.1
0.0
10 20 30 40 50
Frequency (Hz)
4 3 2 1 5 6 7
g
25cm
f
35cm
e
40cm
60cm
c
45cm
b
45cm
+ + 10 5 + +
7 2
Control Bearing
Room + 8 IV 4 +
6 1
+ + 9 3 + +
Generator End
Displacement
l
t = 2 l/c t = 2 l/c
Reflected pulses
from tip
time
a) Transient response of a pile without defects
Displacement a
l
t = 2 l/c t = 2 l/c
Reflected pulses
from tip
t = 2 a/c
Reflected pulses
from constriction
time
b) Transient response of a pile with defect
K.Ravisankar
Scientist - G,
CSIR-SERC, CSIR Campus, Taramani, Chennai-600 113, India.
Email: kravi@sercm.org
14.1 INTRODUCTION
Structural monitoring is used as a diagnostic tool for detecting or infer-
ring the presence of defects/damages and for scheduling maintenance
operations. The information obtained from monitoring is generally
used to plan and design maintenance activities, increase the safety,
verify hypotheses, reduce uncertainty, and to widen the knowledge
concerning the structure being monitored. Structural monitoring has
found applications in two types of structures in particular: innovative
new structures and problematic ageing structures. In the case of newly
built constructions, it has become common practice to instrument
those that present innovative aspects in terms of the types of materi-
als used, structural design or geometry. Old structures with problems
have benefited from structural monitoring to extend their useful life
span safely, making full use of the available structural reserves. Moni-
toring is linked with safety. Unusual structural behaviours are detected
in monitored structures at an early stage; therefore, the risk of sud-
den collapse is minimized and human lives, nature and goods are
preserved. Early detection of structural malfunction allows for an
in-time refurbishment intervention that involves limited maintenance
costs. Well-maintained structures are more durable and an increase in
durability decreases the direct economic losses (repair, maintenance,
reconstruction) and also helps to avoid losses for users that may suf-
fer due to a structural malfunction. New materials, new construction
technologies and new structural systems are increasingly being used
242 Recent Developments in Condition Assesment, Repair Materials and Repair...
fiber optic sensor and electrical resistance strain gages were found to
be good.
Bridges and other critical civil engineering structures operate in
a dynamic environment subjected to repeated cyclic loading. The
integrity of structures under such load conditions can not be pre-
dicted from their responses under static loads. Predicting fatigue life
of structures subjected to repeated load cycles during their service is
an important issue. The life of structural components is significantly
influenced by fatigue. Reliable performance of packaged fiber optic sen-
sors under cyclic/fatigue load is to be ascertained while using them
for health monitoring (Parivallal, S., 2004).
Experiments were carried out to study the performance of pack-
aged fiber optic sensors (both EFPI and FBG) under fatigue load.
For this study, concrete cylinders of size 150mm dia and 300mm long
were embedded with packaged fiber optic sensors (both EFPI and
FBG) were prepared. The cylinders were instrumented with surface
mounting electrical resistance strain gages on the surface after cur-
ing. A sinusoidal loading, ranging from a minimum of 8.49MPa to
a maximum of 14.1MPa, at a frequency of 10Hz was applied to the
instrumented concrete cylinders using servo-controlled UTM. The per-
formance of the embedded fiber optic sensors was evaluated up to 2
million cycles of loading. The fiber optic sensor measurements were
consistent with the load amplitudes during fatigue test. The responses
from the embedded packaged FBG sensors and surface mounted
electrical resistance strain gages were found to be matching well.
Fig. 14.8 shows the responses from strain gages and packaged FBG sen-
sor around 2 million cycles. Experiments were also carried out to assess
the performance of packaged fiber optic sensor under high-stress, low-
cycle loading. For this study, the instrumented concrete cylinders were
subjected to high-stress, low-cycle loading using an UTM. Eight cycles
of loading-unloading were applied to the instrumented cylinders. In
each cycle, the minimum stress was kept constant at 2.83MPa and
the maximum stress was varied from 14.15MPa to 53.79MPa. Stress
versus strain for each of the cylinder was plotted. During the test, a
maximum of around 1500 με was measured from the embedded sensor
and the sensor was found to be working well even after attaining the
high strain range.
14.3.4 Temperature Studies
In cases while making strain measurements at variable temperature
environment, the indicated strain is equal to the sum of stress-induced
248 Recent Developments in Condition Assesment, Repair Materials and Repair...
of 400days was corrected for temperature effect and strain vs. time
was plotted (Fig. 14.11). The strain output is almost constant during
this period, indicating that fiber optic strain sensors are stable and
suitable for long-term monitoring of structures.
14.7 SUMMARY
Fiber optic sensors are a practical and real sensing technology alterna-
tive to conventional NDT techniques. Among the primary benefits for
using fiber optic sensors are their immunity to electro magnetic noise
coupled with their small size that allows for direct embedment into the
concrete and composite materials. Technology on sensors, interroga-
tion instruments, installation methods etc are improving, but need to
continue to improve for widespread applications. Concrete construc-
tion would benefit greatly from in-situ structural monitoring using
fiber optic sensors that could detect a decrease in performance or
imminent failure. In this lecture, the potential of fiber optic sensors
for integrated sensing and monitoring of concrete structures has been
Application of Fiber Optic Sensors for Performance Assessment of Concrete Structures 253
14.8 REFERENCES
1. Eric Udd (1995), ’Fiber Optic Smart Structures’, John Wiley &
Sons, Inc., New York.
2. Raymond, M. Measures. (2001). ’Structural Monitoring with
Fiber Optic Technology’, Academic Press, California.
3. Ravisanakar, K., et.al (2002), “Experimental Studies on Fiber
Optic Sensors for Smart Structure Applications”, SERC Research
Report, SERC, EML-RR-2001-3, 2002.
4. Parivallal, S., Ravisankar, K., Kesavan, K., Sreeshylam, P. and
Sridhar, S, (2004), “Performance evaluation of fiber optic sensors
under fatigue loading”, SERC Research Report , SERC, EML-
RR-2004 - 3, May 2004
5. Kesavan.K, Ravisankar.K, Parivallal.P and Narayanan.T (2004).
’A Technique for Embedding EFPI Fibre Optic Strain Sensors in
Concrete’. Experimental Techniques, pp31-33.
6. Kathy K. (2006). Optoelectronic Applications: Fiberoptic Sens-
ing - Fiber sensors lay groundwork for structural health monitor-
ing. Laser Focus World, 42 (2), 63-67.
7. Kesavan.K, Ravisankar.K, Parivallal.S, Sreeshylam.P and Srid-
har.S (2010), ’Experimental studies on fiber optic sensors embed-
ded in concrete’, Measurement, vol. 43, pp 157-163.
8. Biswas.P, Bandyopadhyay.S, Kesavan.K, Parivallal.S, Arun Sun-
daram.B, Ravisankar.K, Dasgupta.K (2010) ’Investigation on
packages of fibre Bragg grating for use as embeddable strain sen-
sor in concrete structure’. Sensors and Actuators, A: Physical,
Vol.157, Issue 1, Jan.2010, pp77-83.
254 Recent Developments in Condition Assesment, Repair Materials and Repair...
200
Load in kN
150
100
0
0 50 100 150 200 250 300 350 400 450 500
Microstrain (compression)
250
Packaged FBG sensor
Load in kN
150
100
50
0
0 -50 -100 -150 -200 -250 -300 -350 -400 -450 -500
Micro strain
Fig. 14.6 Comparison of packaged FBG fiber optic sensor
vs electrical resistance strain gage
256 Recent Developments in Condition Assesment, Repair Materials and Repair...
Epoxy encapsulated
fiber optic sensor
10
Packaged FBG Sensor
Strain Gage (Average)
0
-10
Micro strain
-20
-30
-40
-50
-60
-70
0.00 0.10 0.20 0.30 0.40 0.50 0.60 0.70 0.80 0.90 1.00
Time in Seconds
450
Fiber optic sensor temperature
400 compensated for steel
350 Fiber optic sensor without any
temperature compensation
300
Microstrain
200
150
100
50
Slope = 0.8 µε/°C
0
30 40 50 60 70 80 90
o
Temperature in C
Instrumented
Prestressed wire
3000
2500
2000
Microstrain
1500
1000
Specimen 1 (Stress=418 MPa)
Specimen 2 (Stress=360 MPa)
500
0
0 50 100 150 200 250 300 350 400 450
No. of Days
LS LS
FBG Interrogator
15.1 INTRODUCTION
Most of the critical civil engineering structures, in particular bridges,
are constructed using reinforced / prestressed concrete as structural
material. These structures undergo distress with time due to environ-
mental and other unfavorable operating conditions. It is well known
that the time dependant phenomenon such as creep and shrinkage
of concrete also reduces prestressing force over time. Thousands of
concrete bridges presently in operation worldwide are in need of
rehabilitation through major works of repairs. In the future, the reha-
bilitation of existing structures will constitute an exceptionally large
field of operation that will extend for many years. Timely retrofitting
measures help to reduce damages and improve service life. In order
to assess the safety and serviceability and to take a decision about
the possible repair measures to rehabilitate the distressed concrete
structures, it is necessary to reliably estimate the existing level of
stress.
Assessing the existing stress of prestressed concrete structures in
service is fairly a difficult task and the researcher is often faced
with lack of actual design/construction information and environmen-
tal service conditions. It is first necessary to generate scientifically
and systematically the required data relating to the existing level of
prestress, in order to take a decision about the residual strength and
possible repair measures to rehabilitate the distressed prestressed con-
crete members. Determination of in-situ stress in the concrete surface
is one way to assess the prestress available in the prestressing steel.
260 Recent Developments in Condition Assesment, Repair Materials and Repair...
15.6 SUMMARY
For assessing the existing stresses on distressed prestressed concrete
structures concrete core trepanning technique can be used. Laboratory
studies were conducted to evaluate the reliability of the concrete core
trepanning technique. Case studies of assessment of residual prestress
in prestressed concrete structures using core trepanning technique are
presented here. The details of the case studies will be presented in the
lecture. Using this concrete core trepanning technique, it is possible
to estimate the probable value of existing prestress with a high degree
266 Recent Developments in Condition Assesment, Repair Materials and Repair...
15.7 REFERENCES
1. SERC Report, “Experimental Techniques for Existing Stress
Determination in Prestressed Concrete Structures”, 1998.
2. Kesavan K., Parivallal S., Ravisankar K., Narayanan T., and
Narayanan R.,“Non-Destructive Evaluation of Existing stress
in Prestressed Concrete Members”, Proceeding of the National
Seminar NDE-2000, pp 39–45., 2000
3. Parivallal S., Kesavan K., Ravisankar K., Narayanan T., and
Narayanan R., “Assessment of Existing Prestress in Prestressed
Concrete Structures” Proceeding of the National Seminar on
Trends in prestressed Concrete, 2001 pp 271–279.
4. SERC Consultancy Report, “Determination of Existing Prestress
Level in Girders of Old Fly Over Bridge of Visakhapatnam Port
trust”., 1997
5. SERC Consultancy Report, “Existing Stress Measurement of
Prestressed Concrete Vierendeel Girders, Chennai Port Trust”.,
1998
6. SERC Consultancy Report, “Report on the investigation to assess
the condition of horizontal silo and suphala plant structures in
RCF factory at Chembur ”., 1999
7. SERC Consultancy Report, “Report on the safety audit of pre-
stressed concrete members of the iron ore berth of Visakhapatnam
port trust”., 2001
8. SERC Consultancy Report, “Assessment of residual prestress in
a prestressed concrete bridge at Srisailam”., 2002
9. SERC Consultancy Report, “Determination of Existing Level of
Prestress in PSC Girders of the Approach Jetty to Intake Well”,
2005
10. SERC Consultancy Report, “Residual prestress evaluation in the
Mahatma Gandhi bridge at Patna”, 2008
11. SERC Consultancy Report, “Structural Assessment of a Pre-
stressed Concrete Girder in Railway Bridge No. 493 in Service
between Villupuram and Mayavaram”., 2010
Evaluation of Residual Pre-stress in Concrete Structures 267
50mm φ
30mm Concrete core
Strain gage
50mm φ
Concrete core 50mm φ
Concrete core
1 1 50 mm φ
50 mm
50mm φ
Test floor
100
6 7 8 9 10 500
500
RCC Beam 1500 mm
long.
Elevation
1 2 3 4 5
1000
150
MICROSTRAIN
0 20 40 60 80 100 120 140 160 180
0
10
DEPTH (mm)
20
30
Location 1
Location 2
Location 3
40 Location 4
Location 5
50
Instrumented Section
1 2 3 1 4 5 6 7
Section
Section
Section
6 Section
Section
Section
5
5200
402
Elevation
5mm Prestressing wire,
Flange 3×6 nos
37 112
Neutral Axis
162
162
254
View 1-1
Micro strain
0 50 100 150 200
10
20
30
40
Location 2 Top
Location 2 Bottom left
Location 2 Bottom right
50
29718
1
L
1
L1 L2 L3
N O T E:
A LL D IM E N SIO N S A R E IN m m
L1 – L3 IN DIC A T ES INS T R U M E N T E D LO C AT IO N S
1499 mm
2743 mm
7772 mm
Elevation
A
Plan A
1500 1500
3000
18500 170
430
G.L
170
30000 Side
400
Ridge
Elevation Cross section at A
(showing instrumented locations)
30000
Top view
All dimensions are in mm
3800 22000
Rail
B3T
B1 B2 B3 B4 B5
B3B
Pier
P7
A
4953 Downstream 6858
5893
P7HD2 P7HD1
P7SD1 P7SD2
Plan
165
P7SU 1 P7S D1
1981
922
170 292
1372
Instrumented Instrumented
location location
b) Typical cross section of approach jetty at mid span
QVMWBC
MWBC MVWBC
250
17700
Web 19700
CL
VMWTC VMETC
350
600 500
VMEBC
500
16.1 INTRODUCTION
The problem of condition assessment of existing structures based on
field investigation data is gaining importance as many infrastructural
facilities are becoming aged. Typically, an engineer is called upon to
address issues regarding the condition assessment, re-qualification/life
extension of existing structure, remaining life assessment with respect
to its future usage (see Fig. 16.1). A common feature of any assessment
problem is the observation, observer and the inference. While, gener-
ally, physical, statistical and modelling uncertainties are addressed in
engineering problems, there are certain characteristics unique to the
assessment problems (Fig. 16.2):
1. The available structure is only one and better defined than a struc-
ture construed at the design stage (but yet to be constructed). Also,
the environment in which the structure located is better defined
than normally assumed at the design stage. However, it is possible
that the uncertainties in defining the live loads may still be prevail-
ing unless more structure/site specific live load surveys have been
carried out.
2. While the uncertainties arising out of environment/mechanical
loading and structural system properties are small, the maximum
uncertainty arises out of the judgments made by the experts regard-
ing the state of health or the condition of the structure based on
the in-service inspection data.
Some advanced but more subtle differences in uncertainty mod-
elling stems from the following observations:
276 Recent Developments in Condition Assesment, Repair Materials and Repair...
16.3 EXAMPLE
The remaining service life of a reinforced concrete T-beam for a bridge
is estimated using the proposed methodology. The random variables
considered along with their statistical properties are given in Table 1.
The probabilitycapacity ratio ≤ 0.5 with age of the structural member
before inspection is shown in Fig. 16.5. From Fig. 16. 5, it is noted that
at 19 years of age, the probability of capacity ratio being less than or
equal to 0.5 becomes 0.01. An inspection is carried out at this time.
The information (cues) obtained from the inspection (see Table 2) are
passed on to five experts, who have been asked to make judgements
regarding the corrosion damage state and to assign confidence levels
for their judgements. Using these values, the corrosion damage state
probabilities are determined (see Table 3), and the state vector for the
corrosion damage state combining the judgements of all the experts is
obtained. The probabilitycapacity ratio ≤ 0.5 with age of the struc-
tural member including the effect of inspection is shown in Fig. 16.5.
It can be noted from Fig. 16.5 that the probabilitycapacity ratio ≤
0.5 = 0.01 when the structural member is 22 years of age, and hence,
the remaining life of the structural member can be considered to be 3
years from the time of inspection against the limit state of probabil-
itycapacity ratio ≤ 0.5 = 0.01. Thus, by carrying out an inspection,
the engineer has now the option to postpone the repair activities up
to a period of three years for the problem considered. This type of
information can be generated using the proposed methodology, which
will be useful for making decisions regarding repair.
16.8 SUMMARY
The studies at CSIR-SERC on handling uncertainties in condition
assessment of structures, with emphasis on application of Brunswikian
theory for handling human judgemental aspects and the use of quan-
tum statistical probability distributions for handling uncertainties, are
presented. The emphasis has been on the use of Markov chain for mod-
elling the response of systems at various scales. It is to be mentioned
that, at present, both classical statistical and quantum mechanics are
to be applied depending upon the scales of phenomenon being mod-
elled. The concept of quantum interpretation of statistical probability
seems to play a major role in future developments in experimental
mechanics.
16.9 REFERENCES
1. Adelman, L., Miller, S.L., Henderson, D.V. and Scholles, M. (2003),
“Using Brunswikian theory and a longitudinal design to study how
hierarchical teams adapt to increasing levels of time pressure”, Acto
Psychologica, 112, 181-206.
Risk Informed Inspection Planning for RC Structures 287
2. Aktan, A.E., Farhey, D.N., Brown, D.L., Dalal, V., Helmicki, A.J.,
Hunt, V. and Shelley, S.J. (1996). “Condition assessment for bridge
management”. Journal of Infrastructure Systems, ASCE, 2(3), 108-
117
3. Balaji Rao, K. and Appa Rao, T.V.S.R. (2004), “Stochastic mod-
elling of crackwidth in reinforced concrete beams subjected to
fatigue loading”, Engineering Structures, 26(5), 665-673.
4. Balaji Rao, K., Anoop, M.B., Lakshmanan, N., Gopalakrishnan, S.
and Appa Rao, T.V.S.R. (2004), “Risk-based remaining life assess-
ment of corrosion affected reinforced concrete structural members”,
Journal of Structural Engineering, 31(1), 51-64.
5. Balaji Rao, K., Anoop, M. B. and Appa Rao, T. V. S. R. (2002),
“Reliability analysis of stochastic degrading and maintained sys-
tems”, Proceedings of 6th International Conference on Probabilistic
Safety Assessment and Management (PSAM6), San Juan, Puerto
Rico, USA, June 23-28, 2002.
6. Balaji Rao, K., Satish, B., Anoop, M. B., Gopalakrishnan, S. and
Appa Rao, T. V. S. R. (2003), “Application of Bayesian technique
for corrosion state assessment of reinforced concrete bridge girders”,
in Safety and Reliability, Ed. T. Bedford, P.H.A.J.M. van Gelder,
Proceedings of ESREL 2003, 15-18 June, 2003, Maastricht, The
Netherlands, A. A. Balkema Publishers, pp 73–80.
7. Balaji Rao, K., Anoop, M. B., Lakshmanan, N., Gopika Vinod,
Saraf, R. K. and Kushwaha, H. S., “A methodology for risk
informed in-service inspection for safety related systems - Final
report”, Report No. SS-GAP01241-RR-04-3, March 2004.
8. Balaji Rao, K. (2007), “Markov-Chain modelling for reliability
estimation of engineering systems at different scales - some consider-
ations”, Proceedings of International Conference on Civil Engineer-
ing in the New Millennium: Opportunities and Challenges, Bengal
engineering and science university, Kolkata, 11-14 January 2007,
(in CD-ROM). (also available at http://arxiv.org/abs/0708.1566)
9. Brehmer, B. and Hagafors, R. (1986), “Use of experts in complex
judgment decision making: A paradigm for the study of staff work”,
Organizational Behaviour and Human Decision Processes, 38, pp
181–195.
10. Brunswik, E. (1952), The conceptual framework of psychology,
University of Chicago.
11. Enright, M.P. and Frangopol, D.M. (1998), “Probabilistic analysis
of resistance degradation of reinforced concrete bridge beams under
corrosion”, Engineering Structures, 20(11), pp 960–971.
288 Recent Developments in Condition Assesment, Repair Materials and Repair...
-Conceptual design
-Analysis - Experimental studies
- Design
Assessment - Field performance evaluation Assessment
Assessment
- Construction problem
problem
problem --Safety
Safety auditing of existing
- Maintenance
structures
- Disposal
Classical Classical
Mechanics Statistical
deterministic Mechanics
Probabilistic
Models Corrosion Initiation
Reliability Analysis Development
of Learning
Models
Bayesian updation based
on inspection data
Condition Assessment––
Markov Chain approach
Judgemental Models
Achievement, ra
X1
rE,1 rs,1
rE,2 X rs,2
2
YE rE,3 rs,3 YS
X Cue Utilization, rs,i
Ecological rE,4 3 r
Validity, r E,i s,4
X4
Cues Xj
1.E-02 2.6 m
2.6m
Pr{capacity ratio <0.5}
19cm
1.E-06 8 Nos 35.8mm Φ
0.6m
0.6 m
1.E-10 6.9cm
0.4m
Before
Beforeinspection
inspection
1.E-14 After inspection
After Inspection
1.E-18
1.E-22
0 5 10 15 20
age (years)
1.0
0.0
0 0 d1/d 1.0
S 1 S2
. . . Sk
State of System
Proposed methodology
Proposed methodology
Point
Point estimate
estimate
Prediction
Prediction atatdesign
design stage
stage
V 2[x(t 2)]
x(t)
V 1[x(t 1)]
0.0
tt11* tt2* tt11 tt22
tt
1
z = 0.95 z = 0.90
0.8
0.6
reliability
300 mm
Simply supported
beam
K. Ramanjaneyulu
Deputy Director
CSIR-SERC, CSIR Campus, Taramani, Chennai-600 113, India.
Email: rams@serc.org
17.1 INTRODUCTION
Concrete is one of the most versatile and widely used of all construc-
tion materials in India. If properly prepared and placed in position, it
has adequate durability under normal conditions of exposure. In the
early years of concrete construction, it was thought that the concrete
structures would last forever, without any maintenance. However, a
number of structures built during the last 50 years, have suffered dura-
bility problems resulting with different degrees of deterioration, with
even a few cases of total collapse. This has triggered off the necessity
for developments for distress assessment and evolving necessary repair
methodology of these structures. The deterioration has been partic-
ularly noticed in structures located in the regions of severe exposure
conditions such as coastal areas.
Many prestressed concrete (PSC) bridges constructed in India dur-
ing the last 3 decades and located in the coastal areas have shown
signs of distress in the form of development of cracks in the gird-
ers, potholes in the deck, malfunctioning of bearings, and corrosion
of HTS wires/stands. In prestressed concrete bridges, the corrosion of
prestressing cables can lead to substantial loss in prestress and ulti-
mately sudden collapse of spans as seen in Mandovi bridge in Goa in
1986. Considerable distress was also noticed in Thane - Creek bridge
in Maharashtra, Sharavati bridge in karnataka constructed in 1970,
Zuari Bridge in Goa constructed in 1983, Narmada bridge in Gujarat
constructed in 1977, to name a few.
One must keep in mind that any compound produced from a nat-
urally available stable material will try to revert back to the original
294 Recent Developments in Condition Assesment, Repair Materials and Repair...
17.3 ENVIRONMENT
The environmental factors may be classified as (1) Natural and (2)
Manmade. The natural factors include variations in ambient temper-
ature and relative humidity of the air, presence of chlorides, sulphates
etc. Manmade factors include resultant of pollutants such as carbon
dioxide, sulphur dioxide etc. from effluents let out in the surrounding
environment by nearby industries. The environmental factors influence
the quality of concrete as well as reinforcements to a greater extent in
India, being a hot weather country. High temperature and alternating
high and low humidity have the greatest adverse affect on the qual-
ity and integrity of concrete. The durability of a concrete structure
will be determined by the rate at which the concrete deteriorates as
a result of chemical reaction. The most important chemical reactions
are acid attack, sulphate attack, alkali attack, effect of carbonation
and chloride penetration.
17.3.1 Alkali Silica Reaction (ASR)
While choosing the aggregates, the major factor to be considered is
alkali-aggregate reaction which may lead to destructive expansion of
concrete. This relates to action between the reactive silica present
in the aggregate and the alkalis added in concrete including those
present in mixing water and cement. Due to this reaction, a swelling
gel is generated. This gel causes expansion and cracking of concrete
296 Recent Developments in Condition Assesment, Repair Materials and Repair...
in both micro and the macro level. Among the various geological for-
mations relevant to aggregates in India, perhaps quartzite, basalt are
most vulnerable minerals in this context. Destructive alkali-aggregate
reaction can take place only in the presence of moisture. Thus struc-
tures exposed to high humidity and contact with water/moisture are
more vulnerable.
The degree of expansion due to alkali-aggregate reaction is also
dependent on temperature. As such, structures in hot countries like
India are more vulnerable. The following preventive methods are
appropriate:
• Choosing non-reactive aggregates
DELAMINATION
Delaminations occur when layers of concrete separate from bridge
decks or beams at or near the level of the outer most layer of reinforc-
ing steel. Such areas give off a hollow sound when tapped with a rod
or hammer. The major cause of delaminations is the expansion result-
ing from corrosion of reinforcing steel. It occurs with either repeated
chloride deicer applications or continued exposure to a marine environ-
ment. Inadequate cover over reinforcing steel will reduce the initiation
time of corrosion. Vehicular exhaust and emission on bridges may also
cause delaminations. When sufficient moisture and oxygen are present
with a chloride ion content above 0.77 kg /m3 , corrosion of reinforce-
ment will occur in most bridge deck concrete. At the beginning stage of
delamination, the repair can be carried out with epoxy resin injection
at the delaminated section. If delamination is in an advanced stage,
delaminated concrete has to be removed and special repair procedures
are to be followed.
The horizontal cracking (delamination planes) is not visible until
spalling occurs. In the absence of structural cracking, the chloride ion
300 Recent Developments in Condition Assesment, Repair Materials and Repair...
17.6 SPALLING
A spalling is defined as the depression resulting when a fragment of
surface concrete gets detached from a larger mass by any impact, by
action of weather, by pressure, or by expansions within the larger
mass. The major cause of spalls is the same as that for delaminations.
Spalling that occurs at joints may be caused by corrosion of steel at
the expansion joints, or from impact of traffic. Usually the area of
active steel corrosion and chloride contaminated concrete is consider-
ably larger than the area of spalled or delaminated concrete. If only
the area of spalled or delaminated concrete is removed and repaired,
a continuing repair program may be required. However, if the chlo-
ride contaminant is removed and repaired and the deck is properly
water proofed to avoid further chloride contamination, either through
a bonded topping or overlay, a more durable repair will be obtained.
17.7 SCALING
Scaling of concrete surface is defined as local flaking or peeling away
of the near surface portion of concrete. Scaling may be classified as
light if there is only loss of surface mortar with no exposure of course
aggregate, medium or severe if there is loss of mortar with increasing
exposure of coarse aggregate and very severe if there is loss of coarse
aggregate with the mortar.
The most generally accepted explanation of scaling involves the
generation of internal pressure during freezing of solution contained
in saturated voids. Scaling also occurs when concrete is subjected to
alternate wetting and drying or to concentrated solutions of chloride
deicers. Although the extent of scaling may be easily determined, mea-
surement of the chloride ion content of the concrete is advisable to
Distress in Prestressed Concrete Members and their Rehabilitation 301
17.8 CRACKING
Cracking that potentially endanger the structural adequacy of the
member should be immediately considered for repair. Many cracks
do not require detailed repair procedure. If the cracks are active, i.e.,
the crack width is increasing due to continuing over loads or due to
structural settlement, complete replacement of the member or detailed
repair procedures are necessary. It may be necessary to measure or
estimate crack widths. This can be done with measuring microscopes
or feeler gauges. If necessary, the extent of cracking can be evaluated by
pulse velocity by impact echo techniques. Epoxy resins generally can
be used to repair cracks. It may be convenient to widen the cracks and
then fill them with latex mortar. Cracks in prestressed members should
not be repaired without consultation with an engineer to determine
the reason for the cracks.
• Extreme load events like earth quake and disasters due to cyclone
etc.,
Recent advances in nondestructive testing methods are quite sat-
isfactory for evaluation of material strength of damaged structures.
Different diagnostic procedures and available non-destructive tests are
summarised by Nowak2 . In any method, defects are detected by obser-
vation of changing response of the interrogating medium. Interrogating
medium in non-destructive test include electromagnetic waves, stress
wave, electrical resistance/potential, magnetism and charged particles,
etc.
17.9.2 Visual Inspection
Visual inspection by an experienced engineer often provides a good
overview of the condition of the structure. It allows identification
of presence of cracks, delaminations, spalling, corrosion or surface
deposits. Visual inspection may reveal severe damage to exposed
strands, such as nicks, severed wires, kinks, extensive yielding. Gen-
erally, it is assumed that if cracks around a strand do not close after
impact, the strand has lost a significant portion of its prestress force.
Indeed, it is quite possible that a strand and the surrounding concrete
could exhibit none of these physical attributes, but still be signifi-
cantly damaged. For instance, with spalling of large areas of concrete,
it is possible that undamaged strands could lose some of their preten-
sioning force through shortening of the stressed strand, which may be
reflected by camber of the damaged girder.
If the damage is severe, visual inspection is insufficient. Different
techniques adopted for non-destructive test are summarised below.
IRC SP 40- 19933 gives different non- destructive tests to be conducted
before the overall assessment test for damage detection.
Besides visual inspection of concrete surface the surface, of main
reinforcement can also be inspected for any corrosion using Endoscopy,
by drilling holes at regular intervals carefully following cable profile .
However care is required not to affect the cable itself during drilling
and on completion they have to be filled with epoxy modified mortar.
17.9.3 Tests on Concrete
Different non-destructive tests on concrete are summarized by Mallet
in state of the art review on repair of concrete bridges10 .
304 Recent Developments in Condition Assesment, Repair Materials and Repair...
slot was cut in 10mm increments to a depth of 80mm. After each incre-
ment, a special jack was inserted into the segmental slot and pressure
required for restoring the former strain distribution was noted.
Gifford and partners described precision coring a strain gauged area
of concrete to estimate the principal stresses present. Elastic constants
are obtained by in-situ jacking test in the core-hole.
17.9.4 Tests on Steel
Corrosion of steel in concrete is the main reason for strength loss with
age of reinforced/prestressed concrete bridge girders. Corrosion is an
electrochemical process. The probability of corrosion is proportional to
the corrosion current which is controlled by the resistivity of the con-
crete. Different methods for corrosion detection of reinforced concrete
bridge girders are reported and summarised by Mallett10 .
Measurement of total resistance of a wire can be a preliminary
method of estimation of corrosion of cables as the cross sectional area
of wire reduces with corrosion, thus increasing the electrical resistance
of the wire.
Radiography is used to give picture showing the position and size
of bars. This is based on the principle that loss of energy of gamma
rays passing through a heterogeneous medium is greater in zones of
higher density material. The main disadvantage of this method is that
it will not show the extent of corrosion.
Ultrasonic methods are used to detect distress or fracture in pre-
stressing tendon if length of the tendons are small.
may get closed. Load is slowly reapplied, and the reopening of the
crack on the bottom face is carefully monitored. at the instant of crack
opening, the stress at the bottom fiber is zero. Since the beam section
properties, weight and the applied loads are known, the residual pre-
stress existing in the member can be calculated by the well-known
flexural formula.
17.10.4 Special Methods
In the special methods, the existing prestress in a girder is measured
by nullifying the strain release caused by a free boundary with external
pressure. Strain sensors are affixed at a location where the prestress
is to be determined. When a slot or hole is made at that location a
free boundary occurs and the resulting strain release is measured by
the prefixed sensors. Uniform pressure is then applied by means of
jack or any other device along the free boundary to such an extent
that the strain release is nullified. This pressure gives the residual
precompression in the member at that location.
(for 500 kN) has been worked out to be 160 kg/cm2 . The elongation
for the above prestressing force has been worked out to be 126mm. To
account for anchorage slip of about 8mm, each 8T13 cable was stressed
upto 165-170 kg/cm2 . The stressing operation was carried out using
two stressing jacks. The stressing sequence is shown schematically in
Fig. 17.3.
External prestressing was applied as per the sequence specified
above. The interior girder ’G2’ was stressed first. Out of the two
cables used for prestressing for each PSC girder, one cable was stressed
from one side and the second cable was stressed from the other side.
Tensioning of each cable was done in seven stages. The tensioning
pressures (in kg/cm2 ) at different stages were: 50, 75, 100, 120, 140,
160 and 165-170 kg/cm2 respectively. Strain gage measurements were
recorded at each stage of stressing. Deflection measurements were also
taken at seven theodolite target locations of span using high precision
theodolite/total station at different stages of prestressing, as in the
case of strain measurements. The deflections which occurred during
the different stages of external prestressing compared reasonably well
with the theoretical deflections computed. Then the stressing of sec-
ond interior girder ”G3” was taken up followed by outer girder “G4”.
Stressing of outer girder ’G1’ was done after the stressing of G4 on
the same day. The method adopted for stressing, stages of stressing
and method of measurement of strains and deflections for girders G3,
G4 and G1 were the same as those adopted for girder G2. The details
of progressive (cumulative) deflection of girders G1, G2, G3 and G4
after completion of external prestressing of each girder are arrived.
Deflection of bridge, at mid span, at girder locations, during exter-
nal prestressing is shown in Fig. 17.4. It has been observed that the
deflections of PSC girders and strain values measured during external
prestressing operations compared reasonably well with the theoretical
values computed. The external prestressing operation was completed
successfully.
17.11.5 Load Testing and Measurement of Response
After the completion of the external prestressing of the four girders in
each span, load testing of span was taken up. A TATA 2515C (Cum-
mins) vehicle was used for load testing of the bridge span. The gross
unladen weight of the vehicle, front axle weight, rear axle weights of
unladen vehicle were determined using a weigh bridge. Gross Laden
Weight (GLW) of the test vehicle was computed as 25.0t (W) to sim-
ulate bending moment at mid span due to Class B loading as per
310 Recent Developments in Condition Assesment, Repair Materials and Repair...
IRC: 6 [2000]. The test load was applied in stages of 0.5W (12.5t),
0.75W(18.75t), 0.9W(22.5t), and 1.0W(25.0t), where “W” is the Gross
Laden Weight of the test vehicle. For each stage of load application,
test vehicle was placed on the bridge deck so as to induce maximum
moment. The additional weights were loaded/added on to the test
vehicle by placing pre-weighed sand bags, each weighing 40 Kg, on
the test vehicle. Fig. 17.5 shows the test vehicle at centre of span
during particular stage of loading. During all stages of load applica-
tion, deflections were measured at selected theodolite target locations
and strains were measured using electrical resistance strain gages. For
each stage of load application, the loaded test vehicle was brought to
the intended/marked position (at centre of span) and deflections and
strains were recorded instantaneously and after a period of five min-
utes. The test vehicle was then taken off the bridge and instantaneous
recovery of deflections and strains were recorded. Further, recovery of
deflections and strains 5 minutes after the removal of the load were
also recorded. Maximum deflection due to Gross Laden Weight (W
= 25.0t) was found to be 3.1mm which is less than maximum per-
mitted deflection of 28.65mm (1/1500 of span = 28.65mm). It was
also noticed that the recovery of deflections after the removal of loads
was within the stipulated values given in IRC: 6. The strain values
recorded during the various stages of loading were also found to be
well within limits and on lower side compared to the strains induced
during external prestressing.
17.13 REFERENCES
1. ACI Committee 546, “Guide for repair of concrete bridge super-
structure”, ACI Manual of Concrete Practice, Part2 , 1995.
2. Nowak A., “Diagnostic Procedures for Bridges”, Proceedings of
the NATO Advanced Research Workshop on Bridge Evaluation,
Repair and Rehabilitation, Maryland, USA, 1990 pp 73–84.
3. IRC SP- 40,“Guidelines on techniques for strengthening and
rehabilitation of Bridges”, New Delhi 1993.
4. Carino N. J., and Sansalone M., “Flaw detection in concrete
using the impact-echo method”, proc. of NATO advanced work-
shop on Bridge evaluation, repair and rehabilitation, Baltimore,
Maryland, USA, 1990 pp. 101–118.
5. Bungley J. H., “Testing concrete in structures: A guide to equip-
ment for testing concrete in structures”, CIRIA Technical Note
143, 87., 1992
6. BS:1881, “Testing concrete: Part207-Near to surface strength
tests; Part 208:Initial Surface Absorption”, 1992
7. Clemina G. G., and Mckeel W. T.jr., “Detection of delamina-
tion in bridge decks with infrared thermography”, Transportation
research record, No. 664, Vol.1, pp. 180–182
8. Flohrer, and Brenhardt, B., “Detection of prestressed steel ten-
dons behind reinforcing bars, detection of voids in concrete
structures - a suitable application for radar systems”, Proc. 2nd
Int. Conf. On bridge management, pp. 18–21 Apr, 1993.
9. Abdunur C., Duchene J. L., “Structural assessment of bridge with
transversal cracks”. First International Conference on Bridge
Management held at University of Surrey Guildford, 1990,
pp.489–500.
10. Mallett G. P., “State of the Art Review on Repair of Concrete
Bridges”, Published by Thomas Telford Services Ltd., London,
1994.
11. Manjure P. Y., Rao P. S., and Rohra M. R., “ Strengthening of
PSC deck of flyover bridge at Vizag”
12. Thomas B., Ramakrishna Rao M.N., Khare P. S., “Condition
Assessment of a Prestressed Concrete Bridge Deck under Dis-
tress”, Proc. of the Int. Seminar on Failures, Rehabilitation and
Retrofitting of Bridges and Aqueducts, Nov. 1994, Bombay, Vol.
1, pp 255–259.
13. Mohindra O. D., Deepak N., Anant Ram ., Gupta, V. D.,
“Rehabilitation plan of Nizamuddin bridge”, Proc. of the Int.
312 Recent Developments in Condition Assesment, Repair Materials and Repair...