Probabilistic evaluation of the effect of uniform corrosion parameters on the bond strength between concrete and reinforcement

Reinforcement corrosion in concrete structures is considered as one of the main important issues that degrade the durability of RC structures. One of the most important effects of reinforcement corrosion is to reduce the bond between concrete and rebar. Bond strength enables the force transfer from reinforcing steel bar into concrete and guarantees the composite manner of reinforced concrete structures. Many empirical models have been developed to estimate bond strength during the corrosion propagation period. The experimental results are different depending on the test conditions and how to prepare the samples. Models presented by different researchers, even for the same basic assumptions, have fundamental differences in the predicted bond strength, which causes uncertainty in the choice of model and results. In this paper by regression of existing empirical results, some different models are presented for each bar diameter. The reinforcement diameter and corrosion current density are two basic variables in bond degradation models that have been considered for investigation of uncertainty in proposed models. Based on the results, the bond reduction during the corrosion propagation is exponential and the effect of the uncertainty of the corrosion current density is greater than the bar diameter. The effect of uncertainties on the coefficient of variation of the results is more than the effect on the mean. The bond reduction for the smaller diameter bars was lower than the larger bars such that for 10 and 16 mm diameters at 15% corrosion, the bond to primary bond ratio was 0.46 and 0.28, respectively.