Influence of Desalination on Behavior of Prestressing Steel

Desalination is the electrochemical method aiming to remove chlorides from reinforced concrete structures. Until now, it has been applied only to reinforced concrete structures and not to prestressed concrete structures. In this study, desalination was applied to chloride contaminated concrete specimens with pretensioned prestressing steel bars. As a result of the slow strain rate tensile test of prestressing bars after applying desalination, significant influence of treatment on the elastic behavior and plastic behavior until the tensile strength point was not shown but the influence of hydrogen embrittlement due to treatment was impacted on the fracture strength and the contraction rate of fractured sections. As a result of absorbed hydrogen measurement of prestressing steel bars from treated specimens, the release peak of diffusible hydrogen was found. Furthermore, as a result of keeping treated specimens for 1 month, the first peak of diffusible hydrogen (around 470 K) and the change of the fracture behavior due to hydrogen embrittlement disappeared.