Application of acoustic emission monitoring for assessment of bond performance of corroded reinforced concrete beams

This article presents the results of an experimental investigation on the application of acoustic emission monitoring for the evaluation of bond behaviour of deteriorated reinforced concrete beams. Five reinforced concrete beam–anchorage specimens designed to undergo bond failure were exposed to corrosion at one of the anchorage zones by accelerated corrosion. Two additional beams without exposure to corrosion were included as reference specimens. The corroded beams were subjected to four variable periods of corrosion, leading to four levels of steel mass loss (5%, 10%, 20% and 30%). After these corrosion periods, all seven beams were tested to assess their bond performance using a four-point load setup. The beams were continuously monitored by attached acoustic emission sensors throughout the four-point load test until bond failure. The analysis of acquired acoustic emission signals from bond testing was performed to detect early stages of bond damage. Further analysis was executed on signal strength of acoustic emission signals, which used cumulative signal strength, historic index (H(t)) and severity (Sr) to characterize the bond degradation in all beams. This analysis allowed early identification of three stages of damage, namely, first crack, initial slip and anchorage cracking, before their visual observation, irrespective of corrosion level or sensor location. Higher corrosion levels yielded significant reduction in both bond strength and corresponding acoustic emission parameters. The results of acoustic emission parameters (H(t) and Sr) enabled the development of a damage classification chart to identify different stages of bond deterioration.