Effect of corrosion of reinforcement on the mechanical behaviour of highly corroded RC beams

This paper describes an experimental investigation of the behaviour of corroded reinforced concrete beams. These have been stored in a chloride environment for a period of 26 years under service loading so as to be representative of real structural and environmental conditions. The configuration and the widths of the cracks in the two seriously corroded short-span beams were depicted carefully, and then the beams were tested until failure by a three-point loading system. Another two beams of the same age but without corrosion were also tested as control specimens. A short span arrangement was chosen to investigate any effect of a reduction in the area and bond strength of the reinforcement on shear capacity. The relationship of load and deflection was recorded so as to better understand the mechanical behaviour of the corroded beams, together with the slip of the tensile bars. The corrosion maps and the loss of area of the tensile bars were also described after having extracted the corroded bars from the concrete beams. Tensile tests of the main longitudinal bars were also carried out. The residual mechanical behaviour of the beams is discussed in terms of the experimental results and the cracking maps. The results show that the corrosion of the reinforcement in the beams induced by chloride has a very important effect on the mechanical behaviour of the short-span beams, as loss of cross-sectional area and bond strength have a very significant effect on the bending capacity.

Spectral gamma-ray logs and palaeoclimate change? Permian – Triassic, Persian Gulf

Spectral gamma ray (SGR) logs are used as stratigraphic tools in correlation, sequence stratigraphy and most recently, in clastic successions as a proxy for changes in hinterland palaeoweathering. In this study we analyse the spectral gamma ray signal recorded in two boreholes that penetrated the carbonate and evaporate-dominated Permian–Triassic boundary (PTB) in the South Pars Gasfield (offshore Iran, Persian Gulf) in an attempt to analyse palaeoenvironmental changes from the upper Permian (Upper Dalan Formation) and lower Triassic (Lower Kangan Formation). The results are compared to lithological changes, total organic carbon (TOC) contents and published stable isotope (δ18O, δ13C) results. This work is the first to consider palaeoclimatic effects on SGR logs from a carbonate/evaporate succession. While Th/U ratios compare well to isotope data (and thus a change to less arid hinterland climates from the Late Permian to the Early Triassic), Th/K ratios do not, suggesting a control not related to hinterland weathering. Furthermore, elevated Th/U ratios in the Early Triassic could reflect a global drawdown in U, rather than a more humid episode in the sediment hinterlands, with coincident changes in TOC. Previous work that used spectral gamma ray data in siliciclastic successions as a palaeoclimate proxy may not apply in carbonate/evaporate sedimentary rocks.