Key Engineering Materials Vols. 452-453

Abstract: From the perspective of Fracture Mechanics, concrete/rebar bonding failure process in reinforced concrete (RC) structures means the decreasing of the crack closure force imposed by rebar in RC beams, which will result in crack propagation, and eventually structural damage. In this paper the crack-arresting mechanism of the concrete/rebar bonding stress in RC beams was analyzed, which was employed to reveal the degradation mechanism of RC beams induced by concrete/rebar bonding failure; and bending tests of RC beams were presented where effects of concrete/rebar bonding failure on bending performance of RC beams had been investigated. The concrete/rebar bonding failure was obtained by wrapping the rebar with different length of plastic film during casting. The results shows effective concrete/rebar bonding is the key to provide crack closure force, which can prevent functional degradation of RC beams.