Faculty of Engineering

Department of Civil Engineering

Master in structural engineering and construction
(ECV 5701)
Advance Concrete Technology

Submitted by: group # 4

No. Name: Matric No:

1. Sabuz Md Zahid Hasan GS54095
2. Khairuzzaman Md GS54091
3. Ismail Abdullahi Hubey GS53623
4. Abdiakrin Hassan Adan GS53489

Lecture: AP. Ir. Dr. Norazura Muhamad Bunnori

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 1. EXECUTIVE SUMMARY
Concrete structures deterioration is a current issue in civil construction and repair works are
necessary in many situations. Deterioration of concrete structures may be due to physical,
Mechanical and chemical action in addition other causes which could lead to defects or failure.
Durability assessment is associated with identifying the nature & extent of observed
deterioration as a basis for assessing residual strength & potential durability. The continuous
monitoring of concrete structures using suitable NDT (Non Destructive Testing, as
preliminary) methods and use of possible repair methods help in a considerable reduction of
the rate of deterioration of concrete structures thereby increasing the life span of structures.
The main objective of this report is to assess the need for future maintenance, repair and
enhance the life of existing building. In this report also presented the assessment of strength
and durability of concrete to evaluate the extent of distress building. Besides visual inspection,
the Non Destructive Evaluation covering Concrete Core, UPV, Rebound Hammer (Schmidt
Rebound Hammers), and Half-Cell Potential Mapping with respect to the status of corrosion
of reinforcing bars. The repair and strengthening techniques using the latest materials and
possible restoration works such as supplementing reinforcing bars, concreting, and epoxy
inject, anticorrosive coatings, etc. have been suggested to enhance the life of the existing
structure.

2. INTRODUCTION
Concrete is one of the most versatile and widely used construction materials throughout the
world. Reinforced concrete structures have to withstand environmental conditions throughout
its life-span if properly prepared and placed. It has been demonstrated by the large number of
concrete structures built over the last 100 years in different parts of the world.

The steel embedded in the concrete structure whether as reinforcement or prestressed tendon,
being ferrous material, is prone to corrosion, which cannot be totally eliminated. All developed
countries have carried out necessary preventive measures including revision of the concrete
codes by incorporation of suitable durability practices in seventies and eighties. Steel
reinforced concrete structures form an important part of our infrastructure. The combination of
high compression strength of concrete and high tensile properties of reinforcing steel gives an
ideal composite material which offers, compared to other materials, a wide range of
applications in structural engineering. Buildings, slabs, beams all these structures are
essentially made of steel reinforced concrete.

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Corrosion is a destruction of material because of its reaction with the environmental conditions
the most predominant among various factors of corrosion is the atmospheric corrosion which
causes the rusting of steel. Appreciable corrosion starts when the relative humidity of the air
exceeds around 65%. In dry, pure air and below freezing point of water there is no danger of
the corrosion. Hence structural health monitoring is an important exercise to assess the
damages occurring over a period of time. Non - Destructive testing (NDT) is used as an integral
part of general structural health monitoring system. NDT methods help in the determination of
quality and homogeneity of materials, without affecting the performance, serviceability of a
structure during their evaluation. Failures in RC structures can be prevented through corrosion
monitoring and early detection of cracks using various NDT methods.

Several evaluation methods are currently used to collect information about parameters that
are related to structural performance including displacements, strains and stresses.

This information is combined with advanced post-processing tools to infer on the current
operational state and remaining life. The choice of particular NDT method depends upon the
property of concrete to be evaluated such as strength, corrosion, crack monitoring etc.

The factors influencing Corrosion of Reinforcement are namely,

 Quality of Concrete
 Cover Thickness of Concrete Over Reinforcement
 Condition of Reinforcement
 Porosity of Concrete
 Effect of High Thermal Stresses
 Freezing and Thawing Condition
 Total Loss of Steel due to Corrosion
 Storage and Stacking of Reinforcement Steel
 Effect of Environmental and other Chemicals
 pH value and chloride level in concrete
 presence of cracks

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Condition evaluation of a structure involves determination of excessive deflection of structural
elements, misalignment, impact damage, excessive cracking, loss of concrete or loss of steel
section that require a structural evaluation before repairing corrosion damage. This may lead
to limiting the amount of break out permitted during repair, adequate time for concrete strength
gain after the repair. Degradation processes that may indirectly contribute to corrosion of the
reinforcement (freeze-thaw, sulphate attack, etc.) should also be considered. Distinction should
be made between different parts of the structure where

 Reinforcement is still passive, i. e. corrosion has not initiated since carbonation or

chloride penetration has not reached the steel surface.
 Reinforcement is corroding but the propagation is in the early stages, e. g. concrete
cover is not cracked and reduction in cross section of rebar is negligible.
 Corrosion of steel leads to loss of serviceability of the structure, e. g. due to
cracking, spalling or delamination of the concrete cover and more than insignificant
loss of rebar cross section.
The present paper focussed on condition assessment of an existing 45 year old residential
facilities for medical students and the possible rehabilitation works to enhance the life span of
the structure with safety. The preliminary assessment of the condition of the structure is done
by visual inspection, probing of cracks and spalls to see their extent, reinforcement cover
measurements etc. In the second phase possible strength measurements, carbonation
measurements, reference electrode measurements are done by taking samples for laboratory
testing. Finally, combining the analysis of results of various NDT methods for assessing the
quality of structures has been done and the possible repair and restoration works are suggested.

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 3. PURPOSE AND SCOPE OF INVESTIGATION
Cracks are of major concern to ensure the safety, durability, and serviceability of structures.
The reason is that when cracks are developed and propagate, they tend to cause the reduction
in the effective loading area, which brings about the increase of stress and subsequently failure
of the concrete or other structures. Since there always exist constraints in reinforced concrete
structures and buildings deteriorate overtime, cracking seems unavoidable and appears in all
types of structures, for example, concrete wall, beam, slab, and brick walls. Particularly for
concrete elements, cracks create access to harmful and corrosive chemicals to penetrate into
the structure, which consequently damage their integrity as well as aesthetics.

Virtually, for all types of structures, surface cracks are critical indicators of structural damage
and durability and it is crucial to visually inspect the building elements to detect cracking and
appraise the physical and functional conditions.

However, the task of crack detection in building, especially in developing countries, is often
carried out manually. Hence, more time and effort is needed to obtain the measurements of
cracks and to compile or process relevant data. In addition, manual visual inspection is
inefficient in terms of both cost and accuracy because it involves the subjective judgments of
inspectors. Accordingly, fast and reliable surface crack detection and analysis by means of
automatic procedure is highly useful to replace the slow and subjective inspection of human
inspectors.

Recent reviewed done in pointed out an increasing trend of applying image processing
technique for boosting the productivity of detecting crack in structures. The works show that
assessing the visual condition of vertical and horizontal structural elements become a vital part
of civil engineering. Positive information of crack can be used for diagnosis and to decide the
appropriate rehabilitation method to fix the damaged structures and prevent catastrophic
failures.

4. DESCRIPTION OF STRUCTURAL SYSTEMS (BUILDING DESCRIPTION)

The building is a five storied reinforced concrete structure with residential facilities for medical
students located in the city of Barishal, Bangladesh. The building is beam frame structure. The
foundation of the building is shallow foundation.

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 5. FIELD INVESTIGATION FINDINGS (STRUCTURAL CONDITION)
There are numerous causes of cracking in concrete, but most instances are related more too
concrete specification and construction practices than by stresses due to induced forces. The
four primary causes of cracking that the investigator can help to prevent are:

1. Flexural Cracking in Beam

2. Splitting Cracking in Column

3. Corrosion Cracking

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 4. Corrosion in Concrete slab

6. RECOMMENDATIONS FOR CONCRETE TESTING

In the present scenario, it is observed that many important reinforced concrete structures show
distress within a short period. These conditions are usually inspected and restored only when
the embedded steel is highly corroded, followed by cracking and spalling of concrete. Quality
of structure can be maintained by Continues monitoring and conducting periodic surveys. In
order to protect rusting and erosion of steel in reinforced concrete structures, few of the major
Non-Destructive Techniques are proposed in this study.

After identification of weak zones in a structure, detailed assessment of the in-situ quality of
the material is to be done. As preliminary in this paper emphasis on Concrete Strength,
Concrete quality, durability, deterioration and Corrosion of embedded steel.

Therefore, recommendations refer to Concrete Core, UPV, Rebound Hammer (Schmidt

Rebound Hammers), and Half-Cell Potential Mapping to obtain following information from
existing structure which procedure has been standardized by BS, ASTM and ACI codes.

1. Cracking- type, pattern, width and depth

2. State of degradation of materials (concrete, reinforcement, etc.)
3. Strength of material – concrete, steel, brick work, etc
4. Strength and behavior of structural elements / members – capacity, deflection, etc
5. Honeycombing and degree of compaction
6. Density and distribution of aggregate
7. Porosity and permeability and
8. Concrete mix characteristic

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 7. RECOMMENDATIONS FOR CONCRETE REPAIR TECHNIQUES
The building investigated in the study consists of many distressed structural members leading
to the corrosion of reinforced steel. The main objectives of repair are to reduce water and air
permeability, control the rate of corrosion, improve the aesthetic view, etc. In order to increase
the residual life of this structure suitable repair and restoration measures have been proposed
based on the damage in the respective structural members.

a) Treatment for Spalling of cover concrete in slab panels:

In view of the spalling of cover concrete in slab panels, it is recommended to remove
the existing plastering & loosen the cover concrete up to the extent of distress in a
definite shape, i.e. square / rectangle. After a thorough cleaning of the surface. Hence,
recommended to apply anticorrosion chemical paints to the rebar and then the portion
shall be redone using polymer modified mortar.

b) Treatment for concrete crack :

In existing crack area, need to be clean, sound substrate, roughened profile of substrate
(for mechanical interlock) and open pore structure. Therefore, recommended to apply
epoxy inject with sufficient pressure to facilitate contact between the repair material
and the substrate at the interface.
c) Treatment for Peeling of plaster in Walls:
The deteriorated plaster on masonry walls at exterior face of the building shall be totally
removed by gentle chipping. The mortar joints in walls shall be deep racked and
repointed with CM 1:4 as per standard practice followed by replastering with CM 1:6
mixed with water proofing agents.

d) Treatment for Expansion Joint:

In view of leakages from the expansion joint, it is recommended to clean the joint and
fill it with Polyurethane sealant and redo the portion as per BS, ASTM and ACI codes
Provisions.

e) Treatment for masonry wall:

It is recommended to remove the loosen mortar between the masonry joints and redo it
with cement mortar prior to grouting.

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f) Strengthening beams and columns:
RC beams and column can be strengthened by providing additional cage of
longitudinal and transverse reinforcement around the beam and casting the concrete.
The stirrups can be held in position by drilling holes into the slab. Which procedure
could be concluded are following:

 Concrete Breakout (thickness of the concrete including chloride-contaminated

concrete)
 Cleaning (wire brushing or sand blasting) and Supplementing Reinforcing Bars
(if the loss in cross in cross section due to corrosion is more than 15 %.)
 Coating of Reinforcing Bars (epoxy resin or zinc-rich paint)
 Bonding aid / chloride Barriers
 Formwork
 Curing
 Concrete Coating (anti carbonation paint, chloride barrier and water proofing
agent)

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 8. CONCLUSION
The present paper focused on the condition assessment, safety evaluation and possible repair
and restoration methods for existing aged RC building.

1. Visual inspection showed that most of the region in the building is subjected to distress
due to spalling of concrete cover; cracks near expansion joint, dampness and initiation
of corrosion in structural members have led to deterioration of the structure.
2. The proper maintenance and periodic surveys helps in the restoration of aged RC
buildings. The cracks in concrete appeared on the concrete surface due the chemical
reaction can be eliminated by using proper grade of concrete, curing and good
compaction.
3. Knowing the probability of corrosion, the buildings can be restored by using different
chemical treatments proposed for steel. The embedded steel can also be protected using
cathodic protection of steel method, but the process may not be cost effective.
4. However, Coating over steel bars is a short time solution for buildings. This results in
causing weak bonding between steel and concrete. It is always recommended to use
steel before it reacts with the environment.
5. Also, the use of polymer modified mortar, paints with water proofing compounds on
the surfaces affected to dampness and distress results in reuse of these building with
minimum expenditures.
6. Therefore, it can be seen that detailed visual inspection and Non Destructive Testing
(NDT) play an important role in condition assessment of existing buildings. It is
emphasized that using suitable NDT methods along with thorough observations we can
understand the level of distress and with proper restoration measures under technical
supervision the residual life of the structure can be enhanced.

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 9. FIGURES AND PHOTOGRAPHS

Ladies hostel building at Barisal Medical College, Barisal Bangladesh

Splitting Cracking 11
 Splitting Cracking

Slab deterioration
ros on

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