Experimental investigation on the relationship between the spatial variation of steel weight loss and the cracking width of RC members using X-ray photograms

Deterioration of RC members due to chloride-induced corrosion of reinforcing bars is a common problem in marine environment. After surface crack initiates, RC structures are prone to the occurrence of longitudinal surface cracks and concrete spalling. These deterioration mechanisms adversely cause significant reduction of the service life and performance of RC members. Therefore, it is important to create models to reliably predict the long-term performance of deteriorated RC structures. However, the very limited amount of experimental data on spatial variation of steel weight loss in relation to propagation of surface cracking widths has been reported to create difficulty in improving the degree of accuracy associated with the prediction models. This paper is aimed to experimentally investigate the non-uniform distribution of steel weight loss along reinforcing bars inside RC means by means of X-ray radiography and its correlation with longitudinal crack widths.