The effect of different acceleration corrosion processes on flexural strength of oil palm shell concrete

Abstract

Many reinforced concrete structures are built around the beach, and some are even built on the sea. Such building environments possess a relatively high risk of steel corrosion. Corrosion of steel reinforcement of the RC structure can cause structural failure. Therefore, it is necessary to know the durability of concrete, especially concrete with oil palm shells (OPS), as a replacement for coarse aggregate in corrosive environments. For this experiment, 10% oil palm shell was employed to replace coarse aggregate in the concrete mixture. The beam specimens were 500â mm long, 100â mm wide, and 100â mm high. The natural corrosion and the impressed current techniques were utilized to create a corrosive environment and accelerate the corrosion condition of 28-day-old concrete beam specimens. After the beam specimens reached the estimated condition and corrosion level, flexural load testing was carried out. The flexural strength results of the natural corrosion technique were 1985.14 Kgf, 1974.3 Kgf, 1858 Kgf, and 1819.35 Kgf after 24, 48, 72, and 96 hours of salt immersion, respectively. Meanwhile, the accelerated corrosion with the impressed current technique obtained 2902.75 Kgf, 2597.38 Kgf, 2256.49 Kgf, and 2211.14 Kgf for 1%, 2%, 3%, and 4% of corrosion level, respectively.