Monotonic and fatigue behavior of steel-concrete composite beams subjected to corrosion

Abstract Steel-concrete composite structures are widely adopted in civil engineering attributed to the large span-to-depth ratio, light weight and rapid construction. However, long-term behavior of these structures attacked by environmental agents has not been fully investigated. This study presents an experimental study on monotonic and fatigue behavior of steel-concrete composite beams subjected to corrosion. Ten specimens were prepared using accelerated artificial corrosion and tested under four-point bending with a special focus on the effect of corroded studs. Different failure modes were observed for the specimens tested by static and fatigue loading. Corrosion was demonstrated detrimental effect on both monotonic load-bearing capacity and fatigue life of the specimens. The residual bending stiffness also decreased with corrosion rates.