Title:
Impact Of Corrosion on Mechanical Properties of TMT Steel Bars (Prepublished)
Author(s):
Sher Khan, Muhammad Masood Rafi, Humberto Varum and Bruno Briseghella
Publication:
Materials Journal
Volume:
Issue:
Appears on pages(s):
Keywords:
accelerated corrosion; corrosion level; diameter loss; residual strength; strain-hardening; stress-strain curve; thermos-mechanically treated bar
DOI:
10.14359/51749252
Date:
10/8/2025
Abstract:
Corrosion in reinforcing steel bars is a critical factor influencing the durability and structural performance of reinforced concrete structures. This paper investigates the effects of corrosion on the mechanical properties of thermo-mechanically treated steel bars. The study parameters included bar diameter, corrosion technique, and varying corrosion levels (CLs). The impressed current technique was used to accelerate corrosion. Load-displacement data from uniaxial tensile tests were analyzed to determine stress-strain relationships of corroded bars. The results showed that the mechanical properties of the bars were unaffected by diameter or corrosion technique. However, a consistent reduction in both nominal yield strength and ultimate strength was observed with increasing CLs, while the elastic modulus remained unchanged. The strength factors for yield strength and ultimate strengths of the corroded bars varied in the range of 0.0013 to 0.015 and 0.0032 to 0.012, respectively, which were higher than reported in the literature. The fracture strain of the bars decreased at higher CLs. Predictive models were developed to estimate the residual mechanical properties, which are crucial for defining the constitutive relations needed to determine analytical stress-strain behavior. Analytical methods for determining these constitutive relations were also proposed, showing a good correlation with the experimental stress-strain curves.