Experimental Investigation of the Relationship between Surface Crack of Concrete Cover and Corrosion Degree of Steel Bar Using Fractal Theory

Conventionally, crack width is used to assess the corrosion level, whereas other important characteristics such as the variation in crack width at different locations on the surface are disregarded. These important characteristics of surface crack can be described comprehensively using the fractal theory to facilitate the assessment of the corrosion level. In this study, the relationship between steel corrosion and the fractal characterization of concrete surface cracking is investigated. Reinforced concrete prisms with steel bars of different diameters and with different corrosion rates were evaluated. High-resolution images of cracks on the surfaces of these specimens were captured and processed to obtain their fractal dimensions. Finally, a relationship between the fractal dimension, steel bar diameter, and the corrosion rate is established. The results show that the fractal dimension is associated closely with the corrosion rate and steel bar diameter. This study provides new ideas for evaluating corroded reinforced concrete structures.