A two-stage study of steel corrosion and internal cracking revealed by multimodal tomography

Modeling of corrosion-induced cracking is limited by lacking knowledge on the behavior of corrosion products. In this work, the corrosion and cracking processes were experimentally investigated in 3D at two different stages. The processes were measured at micro-structural scale, applying nondestructive neutron and X-ray computed tomography in two scans at different stages in the corrosion process. A method to evaluate the average volumetric strain of the compressed corrosion layer was proposed and displacements in the concrete matrix were measured. Strain localization revealed cracks not directly visible in the images. Multimodal tomography demonstrated to be an effective method for investigating steel corrosion in reinforced concrete.

Automated summary

The behavior of corrosion products in corrosion-induced cracking is not well understood. This study experimentally investigated the corrosion and cracking processes in 3D using nondestructive neutron and X-ray computed tomography. A method to evaluate the average volumetric strain of the compressed corrosion layer was proposed and displacements in the concrete matrix were measured. Strain localization revealed cracks not directly visible in the images. Multimodal tomography demonstrated to be an effective method for investigating steel corrosion in reinforced concrete.