Experimental Research on Seismic Behavior of Reinforced Concrete Columns Strengthened with TRC under Corrosion Environment

Textile-reinforced concrete (TRC) possesses excellent bearing capacity and anticrack and corrosion-resistance abilities, which make it suitable for reinforcing concrete structures in harsh environments. However, the seismic performance of TRC-strengthened concrete columns under chloride corrosion remains unknown. Therefore, a corrosion test was conducted by the electrochemical method on seven steel-reinforced concrete (RC) columns; of these columns, two were used as the control columns, and the other five were strengthened with TRC. The corroded specimens were tested by low cyclic loading in this study, and the effects of the corrosion ratio and different reinforcement methods on the seismic behavior were studied. The results show that TRC reinforcement can effectively reduce the effect of chloride ions on steel corrosion and delay the development of cracks in concrete. The hysteresis curve, initial stiffness, and deformation capacity of the columns strengthened with TRC are superior to those of unstrengthened columns in the same corrosion environment. The displacement ductility factor of the strengthened columns decreases with the increasing corrosion ratio in different corrosion environments, while the constraint efficiency of the TRC increases. The method of reinforcement before corrosion is better than that of corrosion before reinforcement in terms of the ductility and stiffness degradation. The test shows that TRC reinforcement can effectively improve the seismic capability of RC columns in a corrosion environment. (C) 2016 American Society of Civil Engineers.