Structural performance of fiber reinforced lightweight self-compacting concrete beams subjected to accelerated corrosion

Lightweight self-compacting concrete (LWSCC) is gaining popularity since it inherits the best properties of both the lightweight concrete (LWC) and SCC. Addition of fibers to LWSCC can further enhance its performance by improving ductility, crack bridging and energy absorption capacity. However, fiber reinforced LWSCC (FRLWSCC) could have durability issues due to its relative high permeability resulting from porous lightweight aggregates (LWA). Hence, proper investigation on durability performance of FRLWSCC is essential for its long term sustainable application. Despite such importance, no significant research findings are available in literature on durability of FRLWSCC. In this study, the durability of FRLWSCC beams were investigated through accelerated corrosion testing. Both corrosion resistance and structural performance of FRLWSCC beams were evaluated. The structural response of un-corroded beams was also assessed and compared with their corroded counterparts. The FRLWSCC was prepared using three types of fibers; i.e., Polyvinyl Alcohol (PVA), Crumb Rubber (CR) and High Density Poly Ethylene (HDPE) fibers. The LWSCC-HDPE beam exhibited superior corrosion resistance as compared to LWSCC-PVA and LWSCC-CR beams. The LWSCC-HDPE beam experienced a lesser amount of mass loss of reinforcement, fewer cracks and less spalling. Moreover, it sustained the maximum residual peak load and showed higher post-cracking shear resistance.