A study of deterioration of reinforced concrete beams under various forms of simulated acid rain attack in the laboratory

This paper studies the behaviour of deteriorated reinforced concrete (RC) beams attacked by various forms of simulated acid rain. An artificial rainfall simulator was firstly designed and evaluated. Eleven RC beams (120 mmx200 mmx1800 mm) were then constructed in the laboratory. Among them, one was acting as a reference beam and the others were subjected to three accelerated corrosion methods, including immersion, wetting-drying, and artificial rainfall methods, to simulate the attack of real acid rain. Acid solutions with pH levels of 1.5 and 2.5 were considered. Next, ultrasonic, scanning electron microscopy (SEM), dynamic, and three-point bending tests were performed to investigate the mechanical properties of concrete and flexural behaviour of the RC beams. It can be concluded that the designed artificial simulator can be effectively used to simulate the real acid rainfall. Both the immersion and wetting-drying methods magnify the effects of the real acid rainfall on the RC beams.