Fire Performance of Corroded Reinforced Concrete Columns

The present standards for finding the fire ratings of reinforced concrete (RC) columns are restricted to pristine elements, as the age or corrosion-related deteriorations are yet to be addressed. An experimental investigation was conducted to examine the impact of corrosion on the fire performance of reinforced concrete columns. This investigation studied two normal-strength concrete (NSC) and two high-strength concrete (HSC) RC columns. Out of these four columns, one NSC and one HSC column were corroded by a specifically designed accelerated corrosion setup for the target corrosion of 20%, while the remaining columns were the control specimens and were kept uncorroded. After completing the desired exposure time for the accelerated corrosion, both columns and their companion non-corroded columns were tested in a fire furnace simulating the standard ISO-834 fire. The experimental results showed that corrosion has a significant influence on the fire performance of the RC columns. The result indicates that the fire rating of the corroded HSC column drops considerably. Nevertheless, there exists a subtle enhancement in the behavior of the corroded NSC column when exposed to fire, indicating the need for further research in this regard. The effects of corrosion cracks and spalling on the fire resistance of the corroded RC columns were also noted in this study. This research will enable the design of new reinforced concrete columns for better fire performance despite corrosion-related deteriorations.