Title:
Estimation of Steel Rebar Strength in Existing Concrete Bridges
Author(s):
Alessandro P. Fantilli and Bernardino Chiaia
Publication:
Symposium Paper
Volume:
342
Issue:
Appears on pages(s):
98-113
Keywords:
reinforced concrete, existing bridges, tensile strength, yield strength, steel reinforcing bar, strength-forage curves, uniaxial tensile test
DOI:
10.14359/51725939
Date:
6/1/2020
Abstract:
To design a retrofit and/or maintenance protocol for existing reinforced concrete bridges, the assessment of
rebar steel strength is generally required. The current methodology consists of uniaxial tensile tests performed on bar
segments extracted from a structural element. Nevertheless, in several situations (e.g., the assessment of bridges in
service), this traditional method cannot be used. Hence, a new simplified approach is introduced herein. It consists of
the so-called “strength-for-age curves,” which relate the average strength of steel to the year of construction. Such
curves are statistically computed from a database stored in the Department of Structural and Geotechnical Engineering
of Politecnico di Torino (Italy). As a result, the yield and tensile strength values experimentally measured from rebar
in two existing bridges in Northern Italy, built in 1930 and 1975, respectively, were correctly predicted using the
proposed model.