Use of Ferrocement for Rehabilitation of Reinforced Concrete Structure

Abstract

Steel reinforcement in reinforced concrete gradually corrodes and disintegrates with time rendering cracks and eventual loss of strength. Rehabilitation helps to recover the strength to certain degree. Ferrocement is the common material available which can be employed for rehabilitation purpose. This study focuses on the loss of strength observed in reinforced concrete beam when corroded to specified level i.e. 5%, 10% and 15% of steel. Similarly, the possibility of use of ferrocement pad on the critical section of beam during flexure, for rehabilitation purpose is also studied. This study utilizes concrete beams of size 150*200*800mm, corroded to specified degree by accelerated corrosion and tested in Universal Testing Machine. Similarly, the ferrocement padding is applied by epoxy bonding and the strength recovery is also assessed. The test results show the increase of ultimate load capacity of beams after rehabilitation and also improvement of ductility factor and first crack load.