When steel reinforcement corrodes in a concrete structure, the expansion of
corrosion products often leads to cracking in the concrete. In this paper,
a simple physical model is developed to relate the size of cracks to steel
expansion. By assuming the steel/concrete interface to be perfectly smooth
or perfectly bonded, upper- and lower-bound solutions can be obtained; The
results indicate (1) the presence of an expansion threshold below which no
crack propagation can occur; (2) a "pop-in" behavior occurring at a critic
al expansion that is strongly dependent on initial flaw size; and (3) the s
teel expansion to generate a given crack size is strongly affected by inter
facial bonding. When the theoretical findings are compared to available exp
erimental results, good agreement is obtained. Based on the theoretical res
ults, several guidelines for controlling expansion-induced cracking can be
proposed. These include proper control of initial flaw size, addition of fi
bers to produce an R-curve behavior, and the enhancement of bond and/or fri
ction at the steel/concrete interface.