EVALUATION OF REPAIR MATERIALS FOR FUNCTIONAL IMPROVEMENT OF SLABS AND BEAMS WITH CORRODED REINFORCEMENT

The effectiveness of epoxy resins and cementitious repair materials, i ncluding silica fume cement, in improving the functional performance o f beams and slabs with corroded reinforcement was evaluated. Reinforce ment corrosion in the beams and slabs was accelerated by application i f a direct current for various periods of time. The deteriorated speci mens were repaired and tested for flexural strength. The results indic ate that not all the repair materials are able to restore the original strength of the components. The improvement in the load-carrying capa city was related to the increase in the bond between the parent concre te and the repair material, inter alia, the steel reinforcement for an effective load transfer. One of the epoxy resin mortars investigated, as well as silica fume cement concrete, to some extent, were able to restore the original strength of the component. Furthermore, the impro vement in the functional performance of the repair materials, vis-a-vi s, epoxy resin mortar, was observed to be dependent on the degree of r einforcement corrosion. The repair using this material was only effect ive when the degree of reinforcement corrosion was less than 10%.