Corrosion Effects on Seismic Vulnerability of Reinforced Concrete Structures from Different Periods

Clear knowledge of the seismic vulnerability of corroded reinforced concrete structures is very important. Reinforced concrete has been used from over a century and properties of materials have changed and evolved, so the evaluation of the seismic behaviour of existing structures (corroded or not) should consider such progress of used materials. The aim of the present research is to investigate about the seismic capacity of a simple corroded reinforced concrete structure, considering three different building periods (evaluated by considering properties of materials related to different periods), two different corrosion levels of the structure (evaluated by considering bar reduction and concrete cover cracking/delamination). Push-over analyses were performed in order to understand the influence of materials in terms of seismic capacity of structures and how much corrosion phenomenon contributes to this reduction. Results show that material properties have a limited influence on seismic behaviour, but older ones allow for a faster and earlier corrosion process leading to faster and earlier reduction of structural capacity.