Bond Characteristics of Micro-Composite Multi-Structural Formable Steel Used in Reinforced Concrete Structures

Abstract

The bond performance of a unique type of reinforcing steel rebars, claimed to have high corrosion resistance as well as high tensile strength, with concrete was studied. The objective was to investigate the bond behavior of straight rebars made out of this steel, named MMFX, embedded in concrete flexural members and to examine the applicability of the current expressions for bond force to predict the bond capacity of the MMFX bars embedded in concrete. Two phases of experimental investigation was conducted. In the first phase, four beam end specimens were tested and in the second phase eight splice beams were studied. The bond behavior of the MMFX steel bars was found to be similar to that of carbon steel. The bond strength of the MMFX is significantly reduced as the tensile stresses developed in the bar went beyond the proportional limit. Both the ACI code 318-02 equation for bond force and the current equation proposed by the ACI committee 408 for bond force gave conservative prediction for bond force for low stress levels. However, at high stress levels, the prediction of the two equations went to the unconservative side. The non linear behavior of the MMFX stress-strain curve was the reason behind the unconservative prediction. The above two equations were modified to ensure conservative prediction at high stress levels. A second degree best fitting curve was found to be the best to describe the relationship between the splice length and the bond force capacity for both # 6 and # 8 MMFX bars.