Effect of transport properties of fiber types on steel reinforcement corrosion

This study investigated the transport properties of fiber types in concrete to evaluate their effect on the corrosion of steel reinforcement. The fibers used in this research are polypropylene (PP), polyvinyl alcohol (PVA), and hooked-end steel fiber (Steel). The addition of PVA fibers having relatively good resistance to transport properties indicated the best resistance to the initiation time of corrosion. On the other hand, the addition of PP fibers showed a relatively good resistance to corrosion, even though the specimen had a fast rate of absorption. The addition of hooked-end steel fibers that have the best ability to resist mass transport showed the earliest failure time. The localized corrosion effect of steel fibers from the repeated wet/dry cycles seems to have a considerable effect on the acceleration of corrosion nearby steel reinforcement. In addition, fiber types do not significantly resist further acceleration following the initiation of corrosion. It is worth noting that transport properties alone are not necessarily a good indicator of the effect of fibers on resistance to corrosion.