abstract
- © 2022, Avestia Publishing. All rights reserved.Recent catastrophic events showed the critical need for assessing the performance of existing reinforced concrete infrastructure, whether subjected to aging or made by poorly designed structural elements, under both service and extreme loading conditions. To assess the effects of exposed longitudinal reinforcement on reinforced concrete beams, usually found in aging bridges, a series of point-load tests on beams with a T-shaped cross section and exposed reinforcement are performed. Flexural strength and stiffness reduction are estimated as a function of the exposed length of the reinforcement. Results show that reinforcement exposure leads to a reduction in strength and stiffness of the beam, and the longer the length of the exposure, the larger is the measured reduction in stiffness.