Materials and Structures (2006) 39:571584

DOI 10.1617/s11527-006-9096-x
ORI GI NAL ARTI CLE
A nite macro-element for corroded reinforced concrete
Raoul Fran cois Arnaud Castel Thierry Vidal
Received: 14 February 2005 / Accepted: 22 July 2005
C
RILEM 2006
Abstract This paper proposes a model of the mechani-
cal behaviour of corroded reinforced concrete members
subjected to bending under service load. The model is
based on the formulation of a macro-element to be used
in FEM analysis, having a length equal to the distance
between two consecutive exural cracks and a cross-
section equal to the member cross-section. The me-
chanical formulation is directly written in generalized
variables (bending moment and curvature) and is based
on the concept of the transfer length necessary for the
transmission of tensile load from re-bar to tensile con-
crete thanks to the bond. It is thus possible to take into
account the effect of reinforcement corrosion on the
bond between re-bar and concrete, by increasing the
transfer length versus intensity of corrosion. The varia-
tion of the transfer length versus corrosion is expressed
using a scalar damage parameter. A rst experimental
validation is performed on a 17-year-old beam kept in
a chloride environment under its service load.
R esum e Cet article propose un mod` ele de fonction-
nement m ecanique en service d el ement de b eton arm e
d egrad e par corrosion des armatures. Le mod` ele est
bas e sur la d enition dun macro- el ement de largeur
egale ` a ladistance entre ssures de exionet de hauteur
R. Fran cois
LMDC, INSA Toulouse, France
A. Castel T. Vidal
LMDC, UPS Toulouse, France
egale ` a celle de la poutre. La formulation m ecanique
appliqu ee ` a ce macro- el ement est calcul ee en vari-
ables g en eralis ees (moment-courbure) en prenant en
compte lalongueur de transfert n ecessaire ` alarmature
pour transmettre une partie des efforts de traction au
b eton. La prise en compte de leffet de la corrosion
sur ladh erence acier-b eton est alors r ealis ee en aug-
mentant cette longueur de transfert en fonction dun
param` etre scalaire dendommagement de corrosion.
Un premier exemple de validation du mod` ele est r ealis e
sur une poutre en b eton arm e vieillie pendant 17 ans
dans une ambiance saline.
1. Introduction
The prediction of changes in the mechanical behaviour
of reinforced concrete structures during their ageing is
anobjective of major importance for buildingowners. It
will help in the decision to plan repair or reinforcement
of the structure, set up a maintenance program or, on
the contrary, envisage the demolition and re-building
of the structure.
The main cause of ageing damage in reinforced con-
crete structures is reinforcement corrosion. Damage
can be detected visually as coincident cracks along the
reinforcement, which are signicant of both reduction
of the re-bar cross-section and loss of bond between
reinforcement and concrete.
Building design standards neglect the tensile con-
crete located between exural cracks because it does
572 Materials and Structures (2006) 39:571584
not have any effect on the load-bearing capacity (Ul-
timate Limit State). So, by using these standards, it is
not possible to evaluate the effect of bond degradation
due to reinforcement corrosion on the serviceability
of a reinforced structure [1, 2]. In this paper, a model
of reinforced concrete behaviour in the post-cracking
state is proposed based on a reduced-inertia approach
whichtakes tensionstiffeningandcorrosioneffects into
account.
In normal conditions, reinforced concrete elements
subjected to bending are always cracked in their tensile
zones because the tensile strength of concrete is low.
Consequently, usual mechanical models for reinforced
concrete design do not take into account the tensile
concrete, since it does not signicantly inuence the
load-bearing capacity of a structure (ULS) [3]. How-
ever the tensile concrete located between two exural
cracks contributes to the exural stiffness of the struc-
tural element. Indeed, the bond between the re-bars
and the concrete is still active in these areas and leads
to a mechanical interaction between the reinforcements
and the concrete. This is called the tension-stiffening
effect, and is well known to structural engineers. To
take this phenomenon into account in order to correct
the calculations carried out neglecting concrete tensile
strength, two main approaches have been adopted.
In the rst approach, the tension stiffening is mod-
elled using a decrease of the concrete elastic modulus
based on the constitutive laws of concrete under ten-
sion, which include a strain softening curve in the post-
cracking phase [46]. Bond-slip based models are also
included in this approach. These models are based on
the assumed bond stress distribution along the tension
zone and are constructed from the force equilibrium
and strain compatibility condition at the cracked con-
crete matrix [716].
The second approach is based on the moment-
curvature relationship [1720], which takes into ac-
count the development of exural cracks during load-
ing. The tension-stiffening effect is related to various
experimental parameters: tensile strength of concrete,
creep, ratio between rebars and concrete, rebar diame-
ter, type of re-bars [21, 22].
The global behaviour is then calculated by integra-
tion of the moment-curvature law.
The use of the moment-curvature law is also the
CEB-FIP approach [23] with two alternatives. The rst
is empirical (Chapter 3.6 CEB-FIP Model Code [23])
and the second is based on the concept of an effective
tensile member which replaces the tensile concrete
between two cracks. The cross-section of the effec-
tive tensile member determined by FEM analysis is
2.5(h d)b where h is the cross-section height, d the
effective height (distance between the centre of gravity
of the rebars and the compressive bre of the beam) and
b the thickness. The moment-curvature lawis corrected
to consider the tension-stiffening effect by using the av-
erage strain in the effective tension member resulting
from the force equilibrium.
Recently, Kwak et al. [24] proposed an analytical
approach to model the tension stiffening effect in the
case of tension members and beams. Unlike previous
approaches based on the assumed bond stress distribu-
tion function, this model represents the normal strain
distribution in the concrete by using a polynomial func-
tiononthe transfer length, whichis the lengthnecessary
for the full transmission of the tensile load from rebar
to concrete.
In the present paper, an approach based on a linear
variation of concrete and re-bar strain over the trans-
fer length is adopted. This approach is the same as
the CEB-FIP model which assumes a constant bond
strength between reinforcement and concrete. It is then
possible to take into account the development of cor-
rosion and the resulting de-bonding by increasing the
transfer length between concrete and re-bars. The im-
plementation of the model is based on the denition
of macro-elements having a length equal to the dis-
tance between two exural cracks and the same height
as the beam height. Such global approach in general-
ized variables was already performed in previous works
[2527] dealing with reinforced concrete element or
soil-structure interaction. The main interest of the pro-
posed model is that perfect bonding between concrete
and steel is not assumed which is the case for previous
studies. As a result, the bond damage due to corro-
sion is taking into account thanks to the increase of the
transfer length between rebar and concrete. To estab-
lish the diagnosis of a corroded element, it is neces-
sary to perform numerous non-destructive tests on the
structures, so as to know the exact spacing between
exural cracks. The reduced inertia of these macro-
elements then depends on the transfer length and its
increase due to corrosion. The inertia of the macro-
element is then implemented in elastic nite element
analysis which calculates the global stiffness of cor-
roded reinforced concrete members. The validity of this
approach is established in the absence of corrosion by
Materials and Structures (2006) 39:571584 573
Fig. 1 Lay-out of A beams,
all dimensions in mm.
comparison with previous models and experimental re-
sults, and in presence of corrosion with experimental
results.
2. Experimental program
This paper is based on a large experimental program
dedicated to the study of reinforcement corrosion ini-
tiated in 1984 at the LMDC laboratory in Toulouse
(France) [28]. This research project, which is still in
progress, consists in periodic inspection and testing of
reinforced concrete members stored in a loaded state in
a chloride environment. The main interests of the ex-
perimental programare the dimensions of the members
tested, which are representative of real structures (3 m
long, 150 280 mm cross-section), the storage in the
loaded state (members are cracked due to bending mo-
ment), the natural corrosion (no accelerated corrosion
using electrical eld) and the existence of numerous
control members also aged in a loaded state but in a
non-aggressive environment.
This paper focuses on two beams aged for 17
years and denoted A1CL and A1T for the corroded
and the control beam respectively. Both beams were
loaded in 3-point bending at the design service load
(M
ser
= 13.5 kNm, normal stress in reinforcement

s
160 MPa) corresponding to aggressive environ-
mental conditions according to French standards. In
this standard, the crack width is controlled by the nor-
mal stress limit in the reinforcement. The exural load
was maintained using an adequate device [29] through-
out the experiment.
The reinforcement lay-out for A beams is shown in
Fig. 1.
The reinforcement was provided by ribbed bars with
a 500 MPa yield strength. The mechanical characteris-
tics of the aged concrete were: compressive strength
= 63 MPa, tensile strength (through splitting tests) =
6.8 MPa, and elastic modulus =35 GPa. Water porosity
was 15.2%.
3. Mechanical formulation for one
macro-element without corrosion
In the post-cracking state of reinforced concrete and in
a cracked cross-section, all tensile stresses are concen-
trated on the reinforcement. Apart of this tensile load is
transferred to the concrete located between two cracks
because of the bond between the steel and the concrete.
However, it takes a minimal bar length, called the trans-
fer length and noted L
t
, to achieve the full transfer of
stresses between steel and concrete. Figure 2 shows the
typical strain prole in reinforcement located between
two exural cracks.
In this gure, L
t
is assumed to be lower than the half
spacing between two cracks, even though the CEB-FIP
code considers this to be impossible in real life because
a new crack will appear when the full strength transfer
is obtained. Of course, the model take into account both
possibilities: L
t
larger or lower than the half-spacing
between two cracks.
The transfer length is difcult to evaluate by direct
experiment on beams but it is possible to measure it
indirectly using the strain variation at the concrete sur-
face on a tension member.
3.1. Evaluation of transfer length using tension
member
Experimental tests were performed on a 500 mm long
tension member with 100 100 mm cross-section,
Lelem
snc
before cracking
Crack face
x
Lt
(x)
s
Fig. 2 Typical reinforcement strain prole between two cracks
[30].
574 Materials and Structures (2006) 39:571584
Lt
Lelem
x
N
Tension Member
N

s
Strain distribution
in re-bar
(x)
Fig. 3 Strain prole in reinforcement in tension member.
Fig. 4 Prismatic sample used as a tension member and locations
of the eight strain gauges on the half-length. (four gauges were
located on the opposite face length in mm).
reinforced with a 12-mm-diameter ribbed bar (Fig. 3).
The concrete compressive characteristics strength was
40 MPa.
In these tests, both end surfaces of the tension mem-
ber played the role of a crack surface for the tensile
concrete located between two cracks. Then, the trans-
fer length could be lower than the half-length of the
tension member, which allowed a strain distribution in
the reinforcement to be obtained as in Fig. 2.
The experimental program was built to study the
case of a perfect bond corresponding to physicochem-
ical adhesion between steel and concrete without any
relative slip by using smooth bars, and the case of ad-
hesion failure where the bond is due to the mechanical
interaction between ribs and concrete. Since the de-
vice was symmetrical, only a half tension member was
instrumented, using eight 30-mm long strain gauges.
To eliminate exural effects during the test, the strain
gauges were placed on opposite sides of the tension
member. The strain gauge spacing was 50 mm (Fig. 4).
Figures 5 and Fig. 6 show two different behaviours
for both tension members below and above a load
threshold of around 67 kN. Firstly, below 67 kN, all
strains measured on both tension members are identi-
cal and correspond to the theoretical behaviour. It is
then possible to conclude that the transfer length is
less than 100 mm, which corresponds to the distance
of the rst pair of gauges from the edge of the ten-
sion member. The re-bar geometry (ribbed or smooth)
Fig. 5 Strain measurement on the tension member reinforced
by smooth bar 12.
Fig. 6 Strain measurement on the tension member reinforced
by ribbed bar 12.
has no inuence because the bond is perfect (adhe-
sion). Secondly, above 10 kN load, the behaviours of
the two members are different. For the one reinforced
with smooth bar, the gauges located near the edge (G7
and G8) do not continue to measure the same value as
the theoretical curve (Fig. 5).
This behaviour is due to debonding between the steel
and the concrete which began at the edge of the member
and has now reached the location of the rst gauges.
This debonding corresponds to an adhesion failure.
When the load increases, the debonding progresses
along the bar to reach the second pair of gauges (G5 and
G6 at 150 mm from the edge), then the third (200 mm)
and nally the middle of the member, which leads to
total debonding (Fig. 5). An interaction between the
steel bar and the concrete still exists due to friction.
Figure 7 shows the relative strain (gauge measurement
over perfect bond value) variation along the member
half-length and then the progressive debonding of the
reinforcement. N
cr
is the load which corresponds to the
appearance of a crack in the tension member reinforced
with ribbed bar (N
cr
= 36 kN). Figure 7 shows that the
Materials and Structures (2006) 39:571584 575
0
20
40
60
80
100
120
0 50 100 150 200 250 300
0.25Ncr
0.5Ncr
0.75Ncr
Ncr
abcissa on the tie (mm)
Relative strain (%)
Smooth re-bar
Fig. 7 Variation of relative strain prole along the tension mem-
ber reinforced with smooth bar: the transfer length increases
strongly versus the load.
0
20
40
60
80
100
120
0 50 100 150 200 250 300
0.25Ncr
0.5Ncr
0.75Ncr
Ncr
abcissa on the tie (mm)
Relative strain (%)
Ribbed re-bar
Fig. 8 Variation of relative strain prole along the tension mem-
ber reinforced with ribbed bar: the transfer length is almost con-
stant versus the load.
transfer length is signicantly increased for a load cor-
responding to 50% of the cracking load (0.5 N
cr
) of a
ribbed reinforced member.
As mentioned previously, there is also a behaviour
change for the tension member reinforced with ribbed
bar about 67 kNload (Fig. 6). The gauges located near
the edge (G7 and G8) do not continue to measure the
value given by the theoretical curve. The change in the
slope is clear and is coincident (total load and strain
gauge) with the debonding at the same location for the
member reinforced by smooth bar. However, there is
still a transmission of stress between re-bar and con-
crete since the strain increases with the load. This is due
to the interaction of the ribs with the concrete. When the
load is increased, the behaviour remains constant until
the appearance of a crack at 36 kN, which means that
the transfer length is constant whatever the load when
rib interaction with concrete occurs. Figure 8 shows
that the strain prole along the tension member is al-
most constant versus the load level; there is only a slight
difference between the behaviour corresponding to the
bond due to adhesion and the bond due to rib interac-
tion, so the transfer length remains almost constant.
Thus the load threshold corresponding to the adhe-
sion failure has little inuence on the transmission of
stresses between ribbed bars and concrete. Contrary to
the case of smooth bars, even when the adhesion fail-
ure is generalized along the whole tension member, the
-20
0
20
40
60
80
100
120
0 50 100 150 200 250 300
abcissa on the tie (mm)
relative strain
finite element
analysis concrete
experimental measurement on concrete surface :
case of perfect bond (plain re-bar)
(strain gauge 30 mm long)
finite element
analysis
reinforcement
Lt
95%
experimental measurement on concrete surface
: over the perfect bond threshold (ribbed re-bar)
(strain gauge 30 mm long)
Fig. 9 Transfer length: comparison between FEM analysis and
experimental results obtained on tension members.
transfer of tensile strength between re-bar and concrete
is still possible and is due to the mechanical interaction
between ribs and concrete. This transfer exists until a
new crack appears.
Figure 9 shows the results of a nite element anal-
ysis performed on the same tension member as those
previously tested. For this analysis, a perfect bond is
assumed between the smooth rebar and concrete, the
materials are assumed elastics and the computation is
2D. The unbroken line represents the relative strain cal-
culated for the reinforcement (100% is the full transfer
of stresses from re-bar to concrete) and the dotted line
represents the relative strain measured on the concrete
surface, which corresponds to the strain measured by
the gauge in the experimental tests also plotted on the
same gure.
According to Fig. 9, the transfer length correspond-
ing to full transfer in the reinforcement is the same
as the one corresponding to the concrete surface. Fur-
thermore, the experimental measurements conrm the
shape of the strain prole calculated by FEM. Above
the load threshold leading to adhesion failure, there is
a slight increase of transfer length, and experimental
measurements are still close to the prole calculated
by FEM.
These proles allow the transfer length to be cal-
culated. It will be evaluated as the distance from the
edge of the tension member necessary to reach 95%
of the value corresponding to full transfer. For the ten-
sion members tested, this distance was L
t
= 105 mm
(Fig. 9). This transfer length was associated with a
0.01 m
2
tensile cross-section of concrete and a ratio
of concrete cross-section over re-bar cross-section of
576 Materials and Structures (2006) 39:571584
0
10
20
30
40
50
60
70
80
90
100
110
120
130
0 50 100 150
Lt (mm)
Ratio Tensile concrete section
over re-bar section
Beam A
Tie 100x100 mm
FEM Analysis
Fig. 10 Variation of transfer length versus ratio of concrete
cross-section to re-bar cross-section.
about 88. Indeed, the transfer length would be expected
to depend on these parameters.
When the FEM analysis is performed for the case
of perfect bond, results show that the transfer length is
not related to the elastic modulus of the concrete (even
for a large variation of E: from 20 GPa to 100 GPa).
In the case of bonding due to interaction with the ribs,
the transfer length could be inuenced by the concrete
characteristics, such as the compressive strength. This
phenomenon will be studied in further experiments.
However, for the C40 concrete experimentally tested,
the transfer length was similar for the adhesion state
and for the rib interaction state.
The transfer length depends on the ratio of concrete
cross-section to re-bar cross-section. Numerical simu-
lations performed by FEMshowthat the transfer length
is sensitive to low ratios but is fairly constant for high
ratios (Fig. 10). For usual reinforced concrete elements,
the concrete cross-section is large with respect to the
reinforcement cross-section, so the transfer length cor-
responds to the stabilized length for high ratios. Nev-
ertheless, we have to bear in mind that it could be have
a boundary effect for the low value of cover. This point
will be discuss in a next paper.
According to the variation of the transfer length with
respect to the ratio of concrete cross-section over re-
bar cross-section (Fig. 10), it is possible to evaluate
the transfer length for a given exural member. To do
this, the equivalent tension member cross-section used
by CEB [23] will be used. In the case of a rectangular
cross-section, this equivalent cross-section according
to CEB is 2.5(h d)b where h is the depth of the
beam, d the effective depth and b the thickness. In the
case of the A beam, the equivalent tension member
cross-section is 2.5(h d)b (0.021 m
2
, which leads
h-y
Lt
h-y
x
Lelem
snc
Lt
Lelem

s
h
o
onc
Crack face Crack face Crack face
Fig. 11 Macro-element hypotheses: linear variation of both neu-
tral axis location and re-bar tensile stress over the transfer length.
to a ratio of concrete cross-section over re-bar cross-
section equal to 51. The transfer length is then L
t
=
105 mm.
3.2. Calculation of average inertia of the
macro-element
The calculation of the average inertia of the macro-
element is performed by assuming that strain variation
is linear along the transfer length. This hypothesis is the
same as the one used in the CEB-FIP code model. This
hypothesis is clearly false since the prole is more ex-
ponentially shaped. Nevertheless, an polynomial func-
tion (third order) was tested in a rst approach and the
result in termof generalized variable, moment and cur-
vature was not signicantly different. Then, the linear
prole was chosen and it correspond to the CEB ap-
proach.
s
is the re-bar strain in cracked cross-section
and
sc
is the re-bar strain before cracking. Another
hypothesis is that the variation of the height of the neu-
tral axis is also linear over the transfer length between
the value corresponding to the classical reinforced con-
crete calculation in cracked cross-section and the one
calculated before cracking (Fig. 11).
The re-bar strains and the location of the neutral axis
are used to calculate the exural curvature (x) for a
given abscissa of the macro-element. According to the
L
t
value, the equation of the exural curvature is modi-
ed. In the following, all calculations will be performed
on a half macro-element because of the symmetry.
if L
t

L
elem
2

then (x) =

s
(x)
d y
0
(x)
when x L
t
and when L
t
x
L
elem
2
then (x) =
nc
=

snc
d y
0nc
if L
t

L
elem
2

then (x) =

s
(x)
d y
0
(x)
Materials and Structures (2006) 39:571584 577
0
0.00005
0.0001
0.00015
0.0002
0.00025
0.0003
0.00035
0.00E+00 5.00E-02 1.00E-01 1.50E-01 2.00E-01 2.50E-01 3.00E-01 3.50E-01
Lt (m)
Average bending inertia (m
4
)
Macro-element : Lelem = 200 mm
Average bending inertia (m
4
)
Ic (Cracked inertia tensile concrete neglected)
Inc (full inertia)
Fig. 12 Variation of the average bending inertia of a 200-mm
long macro-element of the A beam versus the transfer length.
when 0 x
L
elem
2
The average exural curvature
m
on the macro-
element is calculated by homogenization oven the
length of the macro-element.
if L
t

L
elem
2

then
1
2
L
elem

m
=

L
t
0
(x) dx
+

L
elem
/2
L
t

nc
dx
if L
t

L
elem
2

then
1
2
L
elem

m
=

L
t
0
(x) dx
This average exural curvature allows the average
bending inertia Im of the macro-element to be deter-
mined.

m
=
M
EI
m
For a given length of the macro-element, Fig. 12 shows
the variation of the average bending inertia versus the
transfer length. The numerical simulation is performed
for the A beam. The boundary conditions are in ac-
cordance with the hypothesis. If L
t
= 0 (impossible in
real conditions), the average inertia corresponds to the
inertia Inc before cracking and for very large values
of L
t
, the average inertia tends towards the inertia in a
cracked cross-section Ic (without the effect of tensile
concrete).
3000
Lelem Lt
macro-element
cracks
Fig. 13 Mesh of a reinforced concrete beam using macro-
elements.
3.3. Assembling the macro-elements
The calculation of the global mechanical behaviour
of reinforced concrete members is performed by as-
sembling the macro-elements dened between consec-
utive cracks, plus one L
t
length macro-element at each
boundary of the cracked zone (Fig. 13).
Each macro-element is a nite element with 4 un-
knowns (node displacements at each end, transversal
displacement and rotation) and the mechanical formu-
lation is BEAMelement. The stiffness matrix for one
macro-element is then [31]:

12 6L
elem
12 6L
elem
6L
elem
4L
2
elem
6L
elem
2L
2
elem
12 6L
elem
12 6L
elem
6L
elem
2L
2
elem
6L
elem
4L
2
elem

EI
m
L
3
elem
In a rst approach and because the model will be used
to re-evaluate the service behavior, the coupling effects
with shear stresses is neglected. Nevertheless, it will be
necessary to take into account this effect in the case of
corrosion of the transverse reinforcement (which is not
the case for the experimental members studied). The
stiffness matrix of each macro-element is assembled as
usual by addition of stiffness coefcients correspond-
ing to the same node. The resulting linear system is
then solved to calculate the displacement at each node
of the model.
3.4. Comparison between the CEB-FIP model,
experimental results and the model proposed
A comparison between the experimental behaviour of
the non-corroded A beam (A1T), the proposed model
based on the transfer length, and the CEB-FIP code
model is shown in Fig. 15. Because the A1T beam was
loaded 17 years ago and kept in the loaded state, the
578 Materials and Structures (2006) 39:571584
Table 1 Mesh and characteristics of the macro-
elements for the control beam A1T
A1T
Nodes Location (m) L
elem
(m) I
m
(m
4
)
1 0.000 0.575 2.899e-4
2 0.575 0.105 1.02e-4
3 0.680 0.210 1.02e-4
4 0.890 0.240 1.114e-4
5 1.130 0.230 1.085e-4
6 1.360 0.200 0.994e-4
7 1.560 0.250 1.142e-4
8 1.810 0.230 1.085e-4
9 2.040 0.220 1.055e-4
10 2.260 0.105 1.02e-4
11 2.365 0.435 2.899e-4
12 2.800
cracking map of A1T Beam
3000
LOAD
Lt Lt
1
2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11
12
Fig. 14 Cracking map due to bending of the control beam A1T.
experimental behavior of the Abeamcorresponds tothe
post-cracked behavior. This is not a problem because
the aim of the proposed model using macro-elements
is then to re-evaluate the behaviour of existing struc-
tures, which are already cracked by their service load.
As a result, the cracking map of the A1T beam, which
is shown Fig. 14, allows the mesh of the nite element
model to be dened. In the cracked zone, each macro-
element depends on the distance between two consec-
utive cracks and Table 1 shows the average bending
inertia of the macro-element calculated with the 105-
mm transfer length.
The global stiffness of the cracked beam (A1T) ex-
hibits a strong correlation with the proposed model
based on macro-element and transfer length (Fig. 15).
The CEB-FIPmodel slightlyoverestimates the stiffness
of the beam but is close to the experimental behaviour.
The next step of this paper is to take into account the
corrosion in the macro-element inertia.
0
2
4
6
8
10
12
14
16
0 0,5 1 1,5 2 2,5
deflection (CEB)
deflection (Lt)
deflection
(experimental)
Moment
(kN.m)
Deflection
(mm)
Beam
A1T
Fig. 15 Comparison between experimental behavior of A1T
beam (already cracked), the model using CEB-FIP code, and
the proposed model.
4. Extention of the model to the mechanical
behavior of corroded Rc members
The approach developed in this paper consists of in-
creasing the transfer length as a function of the inten-
sity of the re-bar corrosion (Fig. 16). The new transfer
length taking into account corrosion is called L
tcor
.
According to the intensity of the corrosion, the trans-
fer lengthvaries fromthe initial value Lt (without corro-
sion) and tends to innity for serious corrosion leading
to total debonding between re-bar and concrete.
In order to be more in touch with other studies tak-
ing into consideration environmental effects on the me-
chanical behavior of reinforced concrete [3234], a
scalar bond damage parameter Dc is introduced which
varies from 0 (no corrosion) to 1 (total debonding due
to corrosion). The relation between L
tcor
and Dc is the
following:
L
tcor
=

L
t
1 Dc

When Dc = 0, there is no damage due to corrosion and

L
tcor
= L
t
. When Dc = 1, there is total damage of the
bond between re-bar and concrete, and L
tcor
tends to
innity (Fig. 17).
The deterioration of the bond due to corrosion of
the reinforcement is linked to the section loss of the
re-bars. The appearance of cracks and their width are
directly correlated to the amount of corrosion products
present due to the oxidation process [35]. The loss of
bond is correlated with the cracking process because of
Materials and Structures (2006) 39:571584 579
before cracking

Ltcor
Lt
Lelem
snc
x
(x)
Crack face

s
Fig. 16 Typical view of variation of transfer length to take into
account the loss of bond due to corrosion.
Dc = 0 : Ltcor = Lt
Dc = 1 : Ltcor =
Strain distribution
in re-bar
(x)
s
x
Fig. 17 Variation of transfer length and bond damage parameter
versus intensity of re-bar corrosion.
the loss of connement of the re-bars in the surround-
ing concrete. Then, the loss of bond varies because of
the development of corrosion cracks (length and width)
but also because of the increase in the amount of cor-
rosion oxides which are less resistant than steel [36].
The bond damage can then be expressed as a function
of the section loss as follows.
Dc = 1

As As
As As0

n
for As As0, elsewhere Dc = 0.
where As0 is the section loss threshold which initi-
ates the rst crack; As is the section loss of re-bar;
n is a parameter describing the quantitative variation
of progressive debonding versus the section loss of the
reinforcement.
4.1. Variation of the bond damage parameter with
the section loss of re-bar due to corrosion
It is difcult to evaluate the variation of the Dc param-
eter versus the section loss of re-bars experimentally.
Mechanical tests could be done on corroded tension
members to measure the transfer length. But, unfor-
tunately, the transfer length is affected by corrosion
0
0.1
0.2
0.3
0.4
0.5
0.6
0.7
0.8
0.9
1
0 20 40 60 80 100
n=5
Mangat-Elgarf
C.Fang et al
Cabrera
H-S. Lee et al
A. Almusallam et al
corrosion (%)
Dp
0
Fig. 18 Fitting of the damage parameter model with the exper-
imental results from [3640].
once corrosion cracks have appeared. The use of strain
gauges on such cracked tension members would not
provide signicant measurements.
Muchresearchhas beenconductedoncorrodedsam-
ples using the pull-out test to estimate the bond strength
versus corrosion. In most cases, the corrosion was not
natural corrosion but was accelerated by an electric
eld. Of course, doubts could be emitted as to whether
such accelerated corrosion is representative but these
results allow the effect of corrosion cracks on the bond
to be estimated. Figure 18 shows a synthesis of experi-
mental results obtainedbysome researchers [3640]. In
these research works, the progressive debonding with
increasing intensity of corrosion is expressed as a re-
duction of the failure bond stress in a pull-out test. On
Fig. 18, the experimental results are expressed using
a scalar damage parameter D
po
which represents the
relative loss of failure bond stress in pull-out tests:
D
po
=

uo

uc

uo
where
u0
is the failure bond stress in the pull-out test
on a non-corroded sample and
uc
is the failure bond
stress in the pull-out test on a c% corroded sample (c%
is the relative section loss of the reinforcement).
Of course, we have to bear in mind that the use of
a damage parameter calculated from pull-out tests to
evaluate the variation in transfer length for tension tests
is open to question. Nevertheless, the results of pull-out
tests will be inuenced by the rebar connement loss
due to corrosion cracks in the same way as the variation
580 Materials and Structures (2006) 39:571584
0.00E+000 1.00E-004 2.00E-004 3.00E-004 4.00E-004
0.00E+000
1.00E-005
2.00E-005
3.00E-005
4.00E-005
5.00E-005
6.00E-005
7.00E-005
8.00E-005
9.00E-005
1.00E-004
Macro-element
Lelem = 200 mm - Lt = 105 mm
Inertia in cracked
cross-section
Inertia of macro-
element
loss of rebar cross-section (m2)
B
e
n
d
i
n
g

i
n
e
r
t
i
a

(
m
4
)
Fig. 19 Variation of the
average bending inertia of a
200 mm length
macro-element of A beam
versus the section loss of
re-bar due to corrosion.
of transfer length will be inuenced by the same loss
of connement. This is a strong assumption since Dc
is linked to the increase in transfer length and D
p0
is
linked to the decrease in bond strength.
Figure 18 shows a strong decrease of the failure bond
strength versus the intensity of corrosion. For relatively
low percentages of section loss, there is a large amount
of bonding damage. This phenomenon is best tted ac-
cording to the recursive least squares method, by using
n = 5 in the expression for the scalar damage Dc. The
error according to the least mean squares is minored for
n = 5 and increase of 8%for n = 6 and 22%for n = 4.
Other values of n lead to more than 35% in increase.
The parameter Dc was calculated using the section loss
corresponding to the percentage of corrosion c%.
4.2. Variation of the average bending inertia of a
macro-element with the intensity of rebar
corrosion
The average bending inertia of the macro-element de-
creases when corrosion of the reinforcement increases.
The coupled effect of section loss and loss of bond
due to corrosion are involved in this variation of bend-
ing inertia. Figure 19 shows the variation of the average
bending inertia of a 200 mm-long macro-element of the
A beam versus the intensity of corrosion. On the same
gure, the inertia in a cracked cross-section (tensile
concrete neglected) and its variation versus corrosion
is also plotted. For large section loss, both inertias are
identical but for small loss of section (i.e. the rst stage
of the corrosion process), there is a large difference
between the variation of average inertia taking into ac-
count the tension-stiffening effect and the cracked in-
ertia. Thus the loss of bond due to corrosion is the most
important factor for lowcorrosion intensities which are
the more usual in real degraded structures.
The model of corroded reinforced concrete be-
haviour based on the transfer length and its increase
versus corrosion intensity, was validated on the A1CL
beam, a 17-year-old beam that had been stored in a
chloride environment. After recording the bending me-
chanical behaviour of the A1CL beam, the reinforce-
ments were observed after removal of the concrete to
precisely establish the map of section loss of tensile
re-bar due to corrosion (Fig. 20). Details on the record-
ing of the section loss can be found in a previous work
[35]. All the re-bars were cut into small pieces (10 mm)
and weighed to evaluate the loss of mass relative to a
non-corroded re-bar. The loss of mass is then trans-
lated in terms of section loss. If corrosion is recorded
and does not lead to the appearance of cracks, then
the intensity of corrosion which is quantied by the
section loss is less than A
s0
(the threshold for crack
appearance). So, the comparison between the cracking
map (Fig. 21) and the map of section loss allows this
threshold to be determined [35]. Because the 3-point
loading was simultaneous to the corrosion process, the
A1CLbeamexhibits more exural cracks than the con-
trol beam A1T. This phenomenon was also noticed by
Y. Ballim and J.C. Reid [41].
Table 2 shows the discretization of the A1CL beam
which takes into account the location of the exural
cracks. For each macro-element, the damage parame-
ter Dc is calculated as a function of the section loss
recorded at the location of the macro-element. The
bending average inertia is then deduced fromthe length
of the macro-element, the damage parameter and the
loss of section of the reinforcement. When the macro-
element is not located between two consecutive cracks,
Materials and Structures (2006) 39:571584 581
0
5
10
15
20
25
30
35
40
0.0 0.2 0.4 0.6 0.8 1.0 1.2 1.4 1.6 1.8 2.0 2.2 2.4 2.6 2.8 3.0
Location along the beam (m)
S
t
e
e
l

c
r
o
s
s
-
s
e
c
t
i
o
n

l
o
s
s

(
m
m
2
)
Front reinforcement Back reinforcement
Fig. 20 Variation of section
loss in the tensile
reinforcement due to
corrosion along the A1CL1
beam.
Table 2 Mesh and
characteristics of the
macro-elements for the
corroded beam A1Cl1
A1Cl1
Nodes Location (m) L
elem
(m) As (m
2
) D
c
I
m
(m
4
)
1 0.000 0.205 3.00E-05 0.296 2.899e-4
2 0.205 0.105 3.90E-05 0.378 0.791e-4
3 0.310 0.210 4.00E-06 0.014 1.007e-4
4 0.520 0.130 4.00E-06 0.014 0.842e-4
5 0.650 0.250 4.20E-05 0.403 0.812e-4
6 0.900 0.250 3.50E-05 0.342 0.851e-4
7 1.150 0.250 4.50E-05 0.427 0.798e-4
8 1.400 0.220 4.20E-05 0.403 0.785e-4
9 1.620 0.200 3.60E-05 0.351 0.793e-4
10 1.820 0.230 0.00E+00 0 0.108e-4
11 2.050 0.200 6.00E-06 0.038 0.963e-4
12 2.250 0.270 1.20E-05 0.109 1.093e-4
13 2.520 0.105 2.50E-05 0.248 0.805e-4
14 2.625 0.175 2.50E-05 0.248 2.899e-4
15 2.800
for example at either end of the beam, only the loss of
section of the reinforcement reduces the average bend-
ing inertia. As a result, the inertia is very close to that
corresponding to the non-corroded state.
4.3. Comparison between experimental results
and the model extended to include corrosion
effects
Figure 22 shows the comparison between the experi-
mental behaviour of the corroded beam (A1CL) and
the proposed model. As mentioned previously, it is
the behaviour of the pre-cracked beam which is com-
pared. There is a strong correlation between experi-
mental stiffness of the corroded beam and the model.
Figure 22 shows that the decrease of the stiffness
between the corroded beam and the control beam is
about 37%. This variation is important and corresponds
to only 11% of section loss of the re-bars in the middle
part of the corroded beam according to the map of sec-
tion loss (Fig. 22 and Table 2). Such an 11% section
loss of tensile reinforcement will lead to a 1%decrease
in stiffness if the transfer length is not changed and only
the section loss of reinforcement is used to decrease the
average inertia of the macro-element. This calculation
then corresponds to a bond not affected by corrosion.
If the tension-stiffening effect is neglected, the 11% of
section loss of re-bars will lead to a 10%decrease in the
stiffness of the beam. Then in these two opposite cases
(bond not affected by corrosion or no tension-stiffening
582 Materials and Structures (2006) 39:571584
0
2
4
6
8
10
12
14
16
0 0,5 1 1,5 2 2,5 3 3,5
Ltcor model
Lt model
experimental
corroded experimental
Moment
(kN.m)
Deflection (mm)
Beams A
Fig. 21 Comparison between experimental behaviour of the
A1T control beam and the A1CL1 corroded beam and the pro-
posed model.
cracking map of A1Cl1 Beam
3000
LOAD
Lt Lt
1
2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11
15
12 13 14
0.8 0.7 0.5 0.6 0.5
1.8
0.9
1.5
1.0
0.4
Fig. 22 Cracking map of the A1CL1 beam, the exural cracks
are transverse and the corrosion cracks are longitudinal (width
in mm).
effect), the inuence of the section loss due to corrosion
of the reinforcement is largely insufcient to explain
the decrease in stiffness shown by experimental data.
As a result, the loss of bond due to reinforcement cor-
rosion appears to be the main parameter allowing the
mechanical behaviour of reinforced concrete members
under the service load to be described. There is a lack
of knowledge on the effect of corrosion on the deec-
tion behaviour of RCmembers. Most test methods used
in the literature are performed by separating corrosion
and mechanical tests as sequential process [3, 3640,
42, 43]. In this study, as in real structures, the corro-
sion takes place while the beam carries load and the
two effects act synergistically. Furthermore corrosion
is not accelerated by impressing an electrical current on
the steel. In an study assessing the structural effects of
reinforcement corrosion under simultaneous load and
corrosion conditions, Y. Ballimand J.C. Read [42] have
founded that when 6% of the mass of steel is corroded,
then beam stiffness is decreased by 4070% relative
to the stiffness of the control samples. This difference
may be explained by the fact that Y. Ballim and J.C.
Read used an electrical current to accelerated corro-
sion which leads to a generalized corrosion which is
not the case in real structures and in our study. Another
explanation could be the fact that the intensity of the
sustained loading has a effect on the coupled process
of progressive corrosion and the stiffness reduction of
the beam.
5. Conclusion
This paper deals with the mechanical behaviour of rein-
forced concrete members under their service load when
damaged by reinforcement corrosion. The model is
based on the discretization of reinforced concrete mem-
bers using macro-elements whose length is the distance
between two consecutive exural cracks. Because the
model will be used to re-evaluate the behaviour of cor-
roded members, the location of existing exural cracks
will be known during the diagnostic phase. Neverthe-
less, the model could be used for predictive analysis
by using a cracking pattern from models found in de-
sign codes. A such predictive calculation was recently
done for an international benchmark and predictive re-
sults were very closed to experimental results [44]. The
tension-stiffening effect is taken into account by using
a transfer length. The local intensity of the corrosion
of re-bars is plugged into the model as both reduc-
tion of the cross-section of the re-bars and increase of
the transfer length to take into account the progres-
sive debonding due to corrosion. Thus, this approach
allows the combined effect of the reduction of cross-
section and the debonding due to corrosion to be taken
into account in the mechanical behaviour of reinforced
concrete members.
The use of the model requires a knowledge of the
transfer length, which could be evaluated for a given
concrete by experimental tests on tension members.
The model is a good t for the experimental results
obtained on a non-corroded reinforced concrete beam.
The transfer length needs to be increased to take the
corrosion effect on the bond into consideration. This
Materials and Structures (2006) 39:571584 583
modication of the transfer length is modelled through
a damage parameter, the variation of which versus the
intensity of corrosion is based on data from pull-out
tests on accelerated corroded samples found in the lit-
erature. The proposed model was validated experimen-
tally using a naturally corroded 17-year-old beam.
An important point to notice is that the experimental
program allows for assessing the structural effects of
reinforcement corrosion under simultaneous load and
corrosionconditions. Astrongcorrelationwas obtained
between experiments and the model. This rst result
is interesting even though it is necessary to test the
model on other reinforced concrete members with dif-
ferent geometries to draw conclusions about its relia-
bility. The model was recently tested in an international
Benchmark. Reinforced concrete members tested were
reinforced by smooth bars and the experimental results
appears to be well tted by using the same transfer
length as the one use for ribbed bars.
Results show that the variation of the mechanical
behaviour of reinforced concrete members under ser-
vice load is mainly caused by loss of bond due to re-bar
corrosion.
Another interest of the proposed model based on a
local approach (at the scale of a macro-element) for the
corrosion is that it allows the variation of the intensity
of corrosion along the re-bars to be taken into account.
Indeed, on a reinforced concrete structure, the develop-
ment of corrosion is random in terms of both location
and intensity.
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