Improving bond strength and mass transport properties of spacer-concrete interface with textured spacers
File(s)
Published version
Author(s)
Muslim, F
Wong, HS
Chiu, TKQ
Buenfeld, NR
Type
Journal Article
Abstract
Spacers areimportant devices used in all concrete structures to support reinforcing steel and achieve the required cover. However, spacers induce a weak, porous andmicrocracked interface that facilitates ingress of aggressive agents. This paper aims to address the problem by developing a method to produce cementitious spacers with a range of small-scale surface textures including grooves, squares, rectangles, hemispheres and pyramids.The textured spacers were cast in Portland cement mortar or concrete, cured up to 28 days, and tested for tensile bond strength, accessible porosity and mass transport properties. The properties were correlated to surface characteristics to establish the effects of texture on spacer-concrete interface. Results show that textured spacers promote mechanical interlocking with concrete, thereby increasing bond strength, resistance against microcracking and pressure-induced flow. The use of certain textures can compensatefor the negative effects of spacers, achieving similar bond strength and permeability to monolithic concrete without the interface.
Date Issued
2021-09-17
Date Acceptance
2021-08-31
Citation
Materials and Structures, 2021, 54, pp.1-16
ISSN
1359-5997
Publisher
Springer
Start Page
1
End Page
16
Journal / Book Title
Materials and Structures
Volume
54
Copyright Statement
© The Author(s) 2021. Open Access This article is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International License, which permits use, sharing, adaptation, distribution and reproduction in any medium or format, as long as you give appropriate credit to the original author(s) and the source, provide a link to the Creative Commons licence, and indicate if changes were made. The images or other third party material in this article are included in the article's Creative Commons licence, unless indicated otherwise in a credit line to the material. If material is not included in the article's Creative Commons licence and your intended use is not permitted by statutory regulation or exceeds the permitted use, you will need to obtain permission directly from the copyright holder. To view a copy of this licence, visit http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/.
Identifier
https://link.springer.com/article/10.1617%2Fs11527-021-01782-y
Subjects
Science & Technology
Technology
Construction & Building Technology
Engineering, Civil
Materials Science, Multidisciplinary
Engineering
Materials Science
Reinforcement spacer
Surface texture
Bond strength
Transport properties
Durability
Interfacial transition zone
CEMENT-BASED MATERIALS
SUBSTRATE
REPAIR
MICROSTRUCTURE
PERMEABILITY
ROUGHNESS
MICROCRACKING
DIFFUSIVITY
PRESSURE
ADHESION
0905 Civil Engineering
Building & Construction
Publication Status
Published
Date Publish Online
2021-09-17