Effect of rusting on steel reinforcement

The corrosion of steel reinforcement inside a concrete structure is undesirable in the following ways:

(i) The presence of rust impairs the bond strength of deformed reinforcement because corrosion occurs at the raised ribs and fills the gap between ribs, thus evening out the original deformed shape. In essence, the bond between concrete and deformed bars originates from the mechanical lock between the raised ribs and concrete. The reduction of mechanical locks by corrosion results in the decline in bond strength with concrete.

(ii) The presence of corrosion reduces the effective cross sectional area of the steel reinforcement. Hence, the available tensile capacity of steel reinforcement is reduced by a considerable reduction in the cross sectional area.

(iii)The corrosion products occupy about 3 times the original volume of steel from which it is formed. Such drastic increase in volume generates significant bursting forces in the vicinity of steel reinforcement. Consequently, cracks are formed along the steel reinforcement when the tensile strength of concrete is exceeded.