Role of synthetic fibers in delaying steel corrosion cracks and improving bond with concrete

An experimental study was conducted to investigate the bond behavior between corroding reinforcing steel and surrounding synthetic fiber reinforced concrete. Pullout concrete and fiber reinforced concrete specimens were prepared at concrete cover to steel bar diameter ratios of 3.1 and 3.7 with three embedded lengths of 100, 200, and 300 mm. Fiber reinforced concrete was prepared using polypropylene at 0.15% and 0.30% or nylon fibers at 0.3% by mix volume. After moist curing for 90 days, pullout specimens, originally contaminated by up to 11 kg/m³ NaCl, were subjected to a special treatment to accelerate corrosion in steel. The bond stress-slippage relationship was evaluated at different corrosion levels. The findings indicated that the use of fibers delayed initiation of cracking, due to steel corrosion, and improved the ultimate bond strength at cracking and post-cracking stages. The percentage improvement in ultimate bond strength at the latter stages reached as high as 52% and 87%, respectively. It was noticed that, prior to cracking, corrosion of steel bars resulted in an increase in bond strength, regardless of the concrete cover to bar diameter ratio used, or whether fibers were used or not. After cracking (due to steel corrosion), pullout specimens prepared with polypropylene fibers showed better resistance than that of corresponding ones with nylon fibers.