Mechanical Behavior of Stainless Steel Rebars for Earthquake Engineering Applications

Mechanical Behavior of Stainless Steel Rebars for Earthquake Engineering Applications

Use of stainless steel in reinforced concrete structures is a promising solution to the corrosion issues. However, for stainless steel rebars to be used in seismic applications, several mechanical properties need to be investigated. These include specified and actual yield strengths, tensile strengths, elongations. Three types of stainless steel rebars including 316LN rebar, Enduramet 32 rebar, and 2205 Duplex rebar were tested and the results are reported in this paper. They were compared with the properties of A706 carbon steel rebars, which is typical for seismic applications, and MMFX II rebar, which is a high strength, corrosion resistant steel rebar. Test results show that the stainless steel rebars have lower moduli of elasticity, higher elongations at rupture than A706 rebars and MMFX II rebars. All five types of rebars tested satisfy the requirements of the ACI 318 code on the lower limit of σ u /σ y2 and the upper limit on actual yield strength. Among the three types of stainless steel rebars tested, Enduramet 32 rebar possesses the highest elongation at rupture.