The adhesion between the concrete and its metallic reinforcement is a fundamental property that characterizes the level of load that can undergo a reinforced concrete structure, and thus allows estimating its possible degradation and therefore its residual lifetime. We note that the steel works well as reinforcement for concrete because it bonds well with concrete and this bond strength, which characterizes the adhesion, is proportional to the contact surface of the steel to the concrete. The adhesion greatly varies with changes in mix design and grade of cement used and by providing intensive heat curing, high early adhesion can be achieved [1]. Moreover, concretes compressive strength, water to binder (w/b) ratio, bar diameter, concrete cover, embedded length, and pre-flexural crack length also affect this adhesion [2]. There are 3 ways in which cement concrete is bonded to a steel reinforcement: (i) adhesion between concrete and steel bars, (ii) mechanical Interlock through ribs of steel bar and (iii) chemical reaction between steel and concrete [3]. The interfacial bond strength, which always characterizes the adhesion between the steel bar and the matrix in reinforced concrete, is generally estimated by a bending test (Beam test) or pull-out test defined in ISO 14916 standards [4]. These tests are often controversial, sensitive to experimental conditions, and not very reproducible since the dispersion of the results can reach 50% in inter-laboratory comparisons [5].In composite materials, constituents and interactions (adhesion) between them play an important role in global behavior of final material. In this regard, numerous researches have been conducted all over the world to clarify this adhesion. VC and SCC have a substantially different mix design; especially regarding the amount and proportion of coarse aggregates, water to binder (w/b) ratio and fine material, which inevitably results in distinct adhesion behavior.
Interfacial Indentation
AbstractThe interfacial indentation test is experimented for the first time in order to characterize the adhesion between the concrete and its steel reinforcement. This technique, developed to estimate the adhesion of thick coatings (thermal barrier, plasma torch deposits, etc.), is used here to create and propagate a crack along the concrete/reinforcement interface. The length of this crack makes it possible to calculate an apparent interfacial toughness which can then be linked to the concrete/reinforcement adhesion, and therefore to the resistance of the elaborate structure. The mechanical properties, hardness and Young's modulus of the various constituents were determined from indentation tests, and micro cracks at the concrete/reinforcement interface are generated by Vickers macro-hardness tests using indentation loads ranging from 300 to 1200 N. The properties of three concretes are compared: a high-performance vibrated concrete HPVC (VC54) and two high-performance self-compacting concretes HPSCCs (SCC54 and SCC62), both developed in the laboratory. The adhes...