ABSTRACT
For a better comprehension of the cracking behaviour caused by steel corrosion, the beam subjected to the external load and the internal pressure was investigated in this study. Three types of corrosion-induced cracks were observed: an internal crack, an external crack and a penetrating crack. Based on crack numbers and areas, the states of the crack propagation at different steel corrosion were concluded. The result of a beam containing corroded stirrups was compared with the one containing non-corroded stirrups, thus the effect of stirrups was studied. The results showed that crack damage was mainly reflected in the increase of the crack number; while as a penetrating crack appeared, the development of the crack area played a leading role. The propagations of different types of cracks were affected by the constraint of stirrups, and the corrosion of stirrups caused different cracking degrees along the longitudinal direction.
