• Journal of the Korean Society of Safety
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• v.31 no.3
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• pp.75-81
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• 2016

Tendon corrosion reliability in KICT-ultra high performance concrete (K-UHPC) bridges is assessed and predicted considering uncertainties in flexural bending capacity and corrosion occurrence. In post-tensioning bridge systems, corrosion is a one of most critical failure mechanisms due to strength reduction by it. During the entire service life, those bridges may experience lifetime corrosion deterioration initiated and propagated in tendons which are embedded not only in normal concrete but also in K-UHPC. For this reason, the time-variant corrosion performance has to be assessed. In the absence of in-depth researches associated with K-UHPC tendon corrosion, a reliability-based prediction model is developed to evaluate lifetime corrosion performance of tendon in K-UHPC bridges. In 2015, KICT built a K-UHPC pilot bridge at 168/5~168/6 milestone on Yangon-Mandalay Expressway in Myanmar, by using locally produced tendons which post-tensioned in longitudinal and lateral ways of K-UHPC girders. For an illustrative purpose, this K-UHPC bridge is used to identify the time-variant corrosion performance.

• Journal of the Korea institute for structural maintenance and inspection
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• v.22 no.4
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• pp.76-82
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• 2018

Grout in duct is very effective protection from tendon corrosion in PSC(Prestressed Concrete) structure. In the work, durability and mechanical tests are performed for two types of grout which are conventionally used one and the improved grout with reduced w/c (water to cement) ratio and silica fume. Tendon system with 1000mm height is prepared and various tests including strength, flow, absorption, and bleeding ratio are conducted. ICM(Impressed Current Method) is adopted for corrosion acceleration in tendon with 12.7mm diameter inside grout. For 2 and 4 days, corrosion acceleration is performed for 2 different type of grout and corrosion amount is investigated. The improved grout shows higher compressive strength by 10 MPa and lower absorption ratio by 50% than the conventional one. It also provides an excellent corrosion reduction to 39.8 %~48.2 % for 2~4 days of acceleration period.

• Journal of the Korea institute for structural maintenance and inspection
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• v.21 no.4
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• pp.47-52
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• 2017

PSC (Prestressed Concrete) structures have been used widely for its engineering advantage with using total concrete area as effective compressive section. However tendon inside is exposed to such a high tensile stress that and more attentions should be paid for corrosion control. This work is for changing corrosion current and ultimate strength in tendon with increasing prestressing force in a constant corrosive condition. With increasing prestressing force, corrosion current, corrosion amount, and ultimate load are changed linearly. When prestressing force increases from 20.0 % to 40.0 %, corrosion current increases to 124.4 % and 168.0 % and ultimate load decreases to 87.8 % and 78.4 %, respectively. With inducing constant electrical potential, increasing corrosion current and reduction of strength are evaluated to be linearly related with increasing prestressing load.

• Proceedings of the Korea Concrete Institute Conference
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• 2008.04a
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• pp.309-312
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• 2008

This paper describes ultimate load tests which were performed to show the effects of prestress loss and tendon corrosion on the flexural strength of post-tensioned concrete beams and the occurrence of wire fracture. Five test specimens were fabricated in laboratory with the variations of the prestress of tendons and the loss of tendon area. For two specimens, small area of tendon at the center of the beam was exposed by using diameter 25mm drill and the exposed tendon was corroded using accelerated corrosion equipment. During the tests, deflections, crack width, and strain changes were measured and acoustic events were monitored with two acoustic sensors. Tests results show that the ultimate flexural strength of test specimens with corroded tendons is smaller than the predicted flexural strength which is calculated considering the loss of tendon area. It is considered that estimation of flexural strength of PSC beams with corroded tendons is very complicated just based on the loss of tendon area obtained by one-side visual inspection.

• Structural Engineering and Mechanics
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• v.65 no.2
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• pp.129-139
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• 2018

Post-tensioning (PT) tendons are commonly used for the assembly of modularized concrete members, and tension is applied to the tendons during construction to facilitate the integrated behavior of the members. However, the tension in a PT tendon decreases over time due to steel corrosion and concrete creep, and consequently, the stress on the anchor head that secures the PT tendon also diminishes. This study proposes an automatic detection system to identify tension reduction in a PT tendon using pulsed-eddy-current (PEC) measurement. An eddy-current sensor is installed on the surface of the steel anchor head. The sensor creates a pulsed excitation to the driving coil and measures the resulting PEC response using the pick-up coil. The basic premise is that the tension reduction of a PT tendon results in stress reduction on the anchor head surface and a change in the PEC intensity measured by the pick-up coil. Thus, PEC measurement is used to detect the reduction of the anchor head stress and consequently the reduction of the PT tendon force below a certain threshold value. The advantages of the proposed PEC-based tension-reduction-detection (PTRD) system are (1) a low-cost (< $ 30), low-power (< 2 Watts) sensor, (2) a short inspection time (< 10 seconds), (3) high reliability and (4) the potential for embedded sensing. A 3.3 m long full-scale monostrand PT tendon was used to evaluate the performance of the proposed PTRD system. The PT tendon was tensioned to 180 kN using a custom universal tensile machine, and the tension was decreased to 0 kN at 20 kN intervals. At each tension, the PEC responses were measured, and tension reduction was successfully detected.

• Proceedings of the Korean Society For Composite Materials Conference
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• 2001.05a
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• pp.23-28
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• 2001

Since non-corrosive Fiber Reinforced Polymer(FRP) tendons have been in increasing use for underground and coastal structures constantly contacted with fresh water or sea water because of their superiority to metallic ones in corrosion-resistance, new non-metallic anchoring system for FRP tendons has been developed and investigated to verify the effectiveness of tendon force, which consist of mainly FRP pipes and Highly Expansive Mortar(HEM). The major factors considered in this experiment were expansive pressures of HEM during its hydration, sleeve lengths and types, and anchoring methods of tendon. New anchoring system were investigated from the pull-out tests. The pull-out procedures of the FRP tendons in the various pipe filled with HEM were analyzed and improved ideas were suggested to develop novel non-metallic anchoring system for FRP tendons The pull-out tests for the FRP tendon and new non-metallic anchoring system were conducted. The results show that non-metallic anchoring system for the FRP tendon has been more stablized due to the gradual expansive pressrure of HEM, as tims goes. Since tile lower stiffness of FRP pipes causes the weakness of anchoring force, it requires the increase of stiffness using a carbon fiber or an increased section area.

• KSCE Journal of Civil and Environmental Engineering Research
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• v.33 no.3
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• pp.843-854
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• 2013

This paper presents experimental research work for the evaluation of ultimate flexural behaviors of prestressed concrete beams with a corroded tendon. In order to evaluate the effects of loss of prestress or loss of tendon area on the ultimate flexural strength of prestressed concrete beams, static load tests are conducted using five prestressed concrete beams. After exposing prestressing tendons in two test beams using 25mm drill bit, the exposed tendons were corroded using an accelerating corrosion equipment to simulate loss of tendon area. During the tests, steel strains, concrete strains and displacements at the center of test beams were measured, and acoustic emission measurements were conducted to detect wire fractures. Based on the test results, evaluation method for predicting flexural strength of prestressed concrete beams with corroded tendons is investigated. In addition, evaluation methods for predicting the existence of corroded tendons in post-tensioned prestressed concrete beams at service loads are discussed.

• Proceedings of the Korea Concrete Institute Conference
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• 2000.04a
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• pp.639-644
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• 2000

Prestressing steels are susceptible to corrosion, which is considered the major reason in the deterioration of prestressed concrete structures. To solve this problem, many research have been made to utilize new type of tendons. FRP tendons have many advantages compared to steel tendons. However, FRP tendons have some disadvantages, such as no plastic behavior. This study focused on the flexural behavior of prestresssed concrete beams which is fabricated by post-tensioning method with CFRP (Carbon Fiber Reinforced Plastic) tendons. Th results drawn from the study, prestressed concrete beams with CFRP tendons have higher flexural cracking load, flexural yielding load, and flexural fracture load. While displacement at the fracture stage is lower compared to prestressed concrete beams with steel tendon. Excessive steel reinforcement lead lower ductility index. So, appropriate reinforcement guideline is needed. Further more, prestressed concrete beams with CFRP tendons can have sufficient ductility index when ruptured by crushing of concrete or used unbonded tendon. Therefore, the best design method for prestressed concrete beams with CFRP tendons is over-reinforcement, and use of unbonded tendon.

• Structural Engineering and Mechanics
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• v.65 no.1
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• pp.1-7
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• 2018

This paper reviews the mechanical effects produced by reinforcement corrosion of prestressed concrete beams. Specifically, modifications in the bonding of the tendon to the concrete that reduce service life and load bearing capacity are studied. Experimental information gathered from previous works has been used for the theoretical analysis. Relationships between bond stress loss and reinforcement penetration in the concrete, and concrete external cracking were established. Also, it was analysed the influence that has the location of the area affected by corrosion on the loss magnitude of the initial prestress.

• Smart Structures and Systems
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• v.1 no.3
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• pp.267-282
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• 2005

This work describes ongoing development of an embedded sensor system for the early detection and prevention of deterioration of reinforcing steel tendons within reinforced concrete. These devices will evaluate the condition of the steel tendon using ultrasonic techniques and then wirelessly transmit this data to the outside world without human intervention. The ultrasonic transducers and the interpretation of the sensed signals that allow detection and prognosis of tendon condition are detailed. Electrical characterization of concrete mixtures used in bridge construction is conducted and a wideband microstrip antenna is designed and fabricated to operate between 2.4 and 2.5 GHz when embedded in such a medium. Simulations and measurements of the embedded antenna element are presented. Transceiver selection and implementation are discussed as well as future work in operational protocols, sensor networking, and power sources. By implementing commercially available off-the-shelf components whenever possible, these devices have the potential to save millions of dollars a year in evaluation, repair and replacement of reinforced concrete.