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Steel corrosion is mainly at fault for the trend of deterioration among U.S. infrastructure-namely, bridges, pipelines, and wharves. Reinforced concrete (RC) is used as the primary construction material worldwide. Reinforcement corrosion can significantly impair mechanical properties of RC members, including shear and bending capacities. In the past decades, several attempts have been made to investigate the impacts of corrosion on the mechanical behavior of RC members. It can be observed that the number of research programs conducted on this topic has rapidly increased in recent years. Therefore, there is a need in the body of knowledge to encapsulate the relevantfindings in the form of a state-of-the-art review. This paper presents a chronological literature review of investigations on different components of mechanical behavior of RC beams (including shear andflexural strengths) under corrosion. The most significant contributions of these studies are identified and presented. This study presents simple relationships that rely on the current literature to be used by practitioners and designers for quick evaluation of RC beams in corrosion distress.
Keywords: bond (concrete-to-reinforcement); deterioration; flexural capacity; residual strength; shear capacity.
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INTRODUCTION
The American Society of Civil Engineers (ASCE) recently published its 2017 Report Card (ASCE's 2017 Infrastructure Report Card); the national grade for U.S. infrastructure is reported as a "D+" overall and as a "C+" for the "Bridges" category. Structural deficiency of these infrastructures is one of the main contributors to such a low rating. Almost 40% of the 614,387 bridges in the United States are 50 or more years old. In 2016, 9% (56,007) of the bridges were reported "structurally deficient" (Fig. 1). Many bridges are reaching the end of their design service life, and their average age continues to increase. It was recently estimated that $123 billion is needed to rehabilitate the country's bridge backlog. Furthermore, in a similar study, the Federal Highway Administration (FHWA) estimates that more than 30% of existing bridges have already exceeded their service life (50 years mostly) and will require more maintenance and rehabilitation in the near future (FHWA 2011).
Reinforced concrete (RC) stands out as the main construction material in use worldwide and nationwide (Aitcin 2000). Steel reinforcement corrosion can be blamed largely for the trend of deterioration of the U.S. infrastructure...