Performance of polymer-concrete composites exposed to harsh environment

This paper presents an extensive experimental investigation on the durability of the polymer-concrete composites exposed to severe environment. In the last three decades, the premature deterioration of various reinforced concrete structures has been a widely recognized problem in the world due to its excessive costs of maintenance and repair, and also environmental impacts. Based on the literature review, diffusion of chloride into the concrete structures was found to be the major cause of the corrosion of steel reinforcement to promote their deterioration. Reinforced beam specimens were exposed to simulated marine environment for 24 months. Then, by utilizing accelerated chloride-induced corrosion test, the time to crack initiation was collected. The results revealed that the polymeric fibre-concrete composites not only increase the durability of the concrete, but also improve the mechanical properties of the concrete.