Bond strength of brass metallized reinforcement with UHPC and NSC at ambient temperature

The influence of thickness of metallized brass coating on bond strength of smooth bars in normal strength concrete (NSC) and ultra high performance concrete (UHPC) is evaluated in this paper. In the experiment, corrosion stability of the coating was evaluated considering the initial corrosion damage caused by alkali pore solution of fresh concrete. Bond strength was evaluated at ambient temperature for both normal strength concrete and ultra-high performance concrete to compare two different mixtures. The corrosion attack on coating was studied microscopically and the relationship between its character and final bond strength was described for both types of material. The results suggest that corrosion resistance of such coated reinforcement and its bond strength are related to the initial alkalinity of both fresh concretes and the additional alkalinity of UHPC. The results are discussed with regard to the trend of using dispersed steel concrete reinforcement coated with brass in high-performance composites instead of normal reinforcement.