Indirect measure of corrosion level based on crack opening

Reinforced concrete (RC) is a widely used material since about 100 years. The early degradation of RC structures has led to intervene on them. Main causes of degradation are carbonation, chlorides and sulphides attacks. Even if diffusion of RC structures is quite recent, however historical and cultural heritage constructions are also made of RC. To preserve the historic value of such structures could require minimally invasive measures aimed at long-term safeguarding, if they are well designed; but it is important to evaluate material characteristics. For this purpose it is necessary to use non destructive tests (NDT) to evaluate the level of degradation reached by the materials composing the structures. Main electrochemical NDT are measurement of corrosion rate and open circuit potential. The use of such techniques requires the removal of small portions of concrete cover only. They, indirectly, allow the value of corrosion penetration to be evaluated. Previous studies provided analytical models to assess crack initiation and propagation according to different values of concrete strength, concrete cover, bar diameter and type of aggregates. Such models better perform for new buildings because historic structures are usually expected to present a visible crack pattern. This paper presents another tool in the box of practitioners to assess and evaluate the vulnerability of existing structures. In particular proposed model provides bar reduction in terms of diameter or cross sectional area, depending on actual crack opening. Outputs of the paper are design charts providing direct correlation between crack width and steel reinforcement loss depending on few geometrical dimensions of RC elements.