Steel corrosion is considered as the main factor for the insufficient durability of concrete structures, especially in the marine environment. In this paper, to further inhibit steel corrosion in a high chloride environment and take advantage of the dual-functional carbon fiber reinforced polymer (CFRP), the impressed current cathodic protection (ICCP) technique was applied to the hybrid-reinforced concrete beam with internally embedded CFRP bars and steel fiber reinforced polymer composite bar (SFCB) as the anode material while the steel bar was compelled to the cathode. The effect of the new ICCP system on the flexural performance of the hybrid-reinforced concrete beam subjected to corrosion was verified experimentally. First, the electricity-accelerated precorrosion test was performed for the steel bar in the hybrid-reinforced beams with a target corrosion ratio of 5%. Then, the dry–wet cycles corrosion was conducted and the ICCP system was activated simultaneously for the hybrid-reinforced concrete beam for 180 days. Finally, the three-point bending experiment was carried out for the hybrid-reinforced concrete beams. The steel bars were taken out from the concrete to quantitatively measure the corrosion ratio after flexural tests. Results showed that the further corrosion of steel bars could be inhibited effectively by the ICCP treatment with the CFRP bar and the SFCB as the anode. Additionally, the ICCP system showed an obvious effect on the flexural behavior of the hybrid-reinforced concrete beams: The crack load and ultimate load, as well as the stiffness, were enhanced notably compared with the beam without ICCP treatment. Compared with the SFCB anode, the ICCP system with the CFRP bar as the anode material was more effective for the hybrid-reinforced concrete beam to prevent the steel corrosion.
The dual function of a carbon fiber-reinforced polymer (CFRP) bar working as reinforcement and impressed current cathodic protection (ICCP) anode for reinforced concrete structures has been proposed and researched in this paper. The ICCP tests with different current densities and polarization durations were first conducted for the concrete with high chloride content. After the ICCP application, pull out tests were then performed to investigate the bond behaviors of CFRP bars. Experimental results have shown the effectiveness of the new-type ICCP system with the CFRP bar as the anode on corrosion protection. The ICCP system provided electrons to the steel bar continuously and brought the potential of the steel bar down to the immunity region. Under the anodic polarization with a large current density of 100 mA/m2, the CFRP bar-concrete interface presented acidification and the chemical adhesion on the interface was decreased significantly. However, for cases in the experiment, the ICCP application had an insignificant influence on the ultimate bond strength.
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