Flexural Behaviour of Reinforced Concrete Members Subjected to Freeze-Thaw Cycles

The purpose of this research is to investigate the influence of the freeze-thaw cycles on the flexural behavior of reinforced concrete members. The variation of the concrete stress-strain relationship due to frozen-thawed deterioration was considered. The temperature distribution was calculated based on the heat conduction theory, and the damaged region affected by freeze-thaw cycles was determined. By using Reponse-2000 program, the flexural behaviour of a reinforced concrete slab was analyzed and predicted. The analytical results show that with increase of number of freeze-thaw cycles, the yield moment, the ultimate moment and the curvature ductility decreased, while the relative depth of neutral axis and the midspan deflection increased.