RECON - Renewal of Concrete Infrastructure

Deterioration of reinforced concrete infrastructure due to reinforcement corrosion is a matter of great concern in many countries. The present project focuses on attention on the effects of steel reinforcement corrosion on structural performance and safet y and the development and use of new, innovative materials in this context. This will be achieved through a coordinated research effort involving analytical methods, numerical modelling and simulations, laboratory tests and field measurements. Laboratory expermiments are performed to investigate the structural consequences of cor rosion (reduces bar cross section and bond). Particular attention is given to the development of reliable methods for the assessment of the integrity of corroding structures, based on nonlinear finite element simulations of the entire history of loading, deterioration and retrofitting. The numerical simulations are carefully validated against laboratory tests and field measurements. The project also seeks to make direct contributions to the renewal of concrete infrastructure by developing corrosion resistant reinforcing steel in cooper ation with manufacturers of steel reinforcement. Simularily, the use of carbon fibre reinforced polymers (CFRP) for retrofitting of concrete structures with corroding steel reinforcement will be investigated in large scale laboratory tests.