Galvanostatic testing for the durability of marine concrete under fatigue loading

Fatigue loading is a significant factor in determining the service life of the marine concrete structures, as it considerably enhances the deteriorati on process in a corrosive marine environment. To evaluate the durability of marine concrete structures subjected to fatigue loading, accelerated labor atory testing was carried out on full- and half-size reinforced concrete sp ecimens, subjected to static and fatigue loading with three different water cement ratios (w/c = 0.3, 0.4, and 0.6). The marine tidal zone was simulat ed by alternate filing and draining of the tank, and a galvanostatic corros ion technique was used to accelerate corrosion of the reinforcement. Half-c ell potential measurements and crack investigations were followed by ultima te strength testing. The significant findings include the adverse effect of fatigue loading, existence of an explicit size effect, and the negative ef fect of increasing water/cement ratio. (C) 2001 Elsevier Science Ltd. All r ights reserved.