Issue 50

Ch. Apostolopoulos et alii, Frattura ed Integrità Strutturale, 50 (2019) 548-559; DOI: 10.3221/IGF-ESIS.50.46 551 Steel Category Nominal Diameter Number of Specimens Total length (mm) Length exposed to corrosion (mm) Type of mechanical test B400c Φ16 9 500 20 Tensile Tests B400c Φ16 20 250 20 ±2.5% strain-controlled Low Cycle Fatigue Tests B400c Φ16 21 250 20 ±4% strain-controlled Low Cycle Fatigue Tests B450c Φ16 9 500 20 Tensile Tests B450c Φ16 20 250 20 ±2.5% strain-controlled Low Cycle Fatigue Tests B450c Φ16 22 250 20 ±4% strain-controlled Low Cycle Fatigue Tests B450c Φ12 25 250 20 ±2.5% strain-controlled Low Cycle Fatigue Tests B450c Φ12 26 250 20 ±4% strain-controlled Low Cycle Fatigue Tests Table 1 : The specimens used for the goals of the current study. The tensile tests were performed according to the ISO/FDIS 15630-1 [15] specification, using a servo-hydraulic MTS 250KN machine with a constant elongation rate of 2 mm/min. The mechanical properties, yield strength Rp, ultimate strength Rm, and uniform elongation Agt, were determined. It should be noted that Agt was measured according to the manual method described in the relevant standard (on a gauge length of 100 mm, at a distance of 50 mm away from the fracture). Table 2 shows the minimum standards for medium and high ductility steel set by the EC2. Class Rp (MPa) Agt (%) Rp/Rm B400c 400 ≥7.5 ≥1.15 ˂ 1.35 B450c 450 ≥7.5 ≥1.15 ˂ 1.35 Table 2 : Steel classes. On the other hand, it is worth mentioning that LCF tests procedure for the cyclic mechanical behavior of steel bar is not in- cluded in the European production standards for reinforcements (EN 10080:2005). Only Spanish and Portuguese standards prescribe the execution of symmetrical tension/compression cycles for the production control of steel reinforcements, while the draft of new European standard for reinforcements (prEN 10080:2012) gives only some indications for the execution of LCF tests by Caprilli et al. [16-17]. In the present study, the LCF tests were performed using the above- mentioned servo- hydraulic MTS 250 kN machine. Two free lengths, equal to 6D and 8D respectively, were tested for each steel category. The frequency used was equal to 2.5Hz and strain imposed was equal to ±2.5% and ±4%, in reference to their free length (either 6D or 8D). R ESULTS AND DISCUSSION lthough both B400c and B450c steel bar categories have been used in existing structures, several worth mentioning differences can be reported, as far as their mechanical performance and their corrosion resistance are concerned, in long term. In Tables 3 and 4 are presented the results concerning both the mass loss percentages and the mechanical properties of the long specimens (500mm), of 16mm nominal diameter. Taking into consideration the data of Tables 3 and 4, it is evident that both steel grades demonstrate similar vulnerability to the corrosion factor. As far as the mechanical characteristics are concerned, B400c recorded 6.5% drop of yield strength against 5.7% of B450c, after the 90 days of A