Investigation of causes on Deterioration of Buildings

in Vijayawada and Suggestion of Remedial Measures

Under the guidance of

Submitted by

Dr Chava Srinivas

T.Meher Sravani

Head of the Dept.

138W1D8714

ABSTRACT:
Buildings are man made structures which has components like beams,
slabs, Colums etc..,. Like everything in this world buildings also get
deteriorated. From past few decades the buildings have been constructed
with RCC (Reinforced concrete cement) material. Every structure has
been created with huge amount of resources. We cannot even dream of
recreating the assets out of limited resources. It is therefore essential to
maintain them in functional condition. Since, Deterioration of building is
natural phenomenon and has started exhibiting in large number of
structures a systematic approach is needed in dealing with such problems.
Identification

of

causes

of

deterioration

and

consequent

repair/rehabilitation strategy at optimum costs needs a scientific

evaluation and solution. So in this project we will consider the sample
points in buildings which were constructed 15-20 years ago and NDT
tests will conducted at the sample points in the selected buildings and so
that we may conclude that where the building strength lacks, the
structural health and we can suggest the remedial measures for those
deterioration causes and minimize the deterioration effects in a structure.

Introduction:
a) About Concrete: In this modern Era, buildings are generally
constructed with concrete. We all well known that concrete is a mixture
of water, cement, aggregates which include coarse and fine. The buildings
or structures which have been constructed with reinforcement cement
concrete are comparatively strong than which are constructed with other
materials
Properties of Concrete

High compressive Strength

Low tensile strength

Low coefficient of thermal expansion
Concrete ha high alkalinity
b) About Deterioration:
The general definition of deterioration is the impairment of usefulness
The concrete usually gets deteriorated when the surface gets exposed
to weather ,chemical, water etc..,
If the structure is given sufficient protection from these factors then
the structure will last for few more decades with low maintenance cost
and adequate strength
Factors causing deterioration in Structures
Corrosion
Due to freeze and thaw action
Over loading
Heat
Lightning Damage

C) How to detect deterioration in a building

Visual inspection
Outer surface of concrete deterioration can be detected by
testing with a metal hammer
The deterioration of embedded steel can be carried out by
NDT test using Rebound hammer, Ultrasonic pulse velocity
test etc..,
Sample testing is important part of any inspection i.e. core
samples must be drilled and sample tests can be done in
these

samples

like

compressive

carbonation and chloride content.

strength,

depth

of

Literature Review
1)Lee Higgins, John P.Forth,Anne Neville, Rod Jones, Trevor
Hodgsons-Behaviour of cracked reinforced Concrete beams under
repeated and sustained load types
International journal of engineering structures
When a reinforced concrete beam is subjected to repeated loads then the
deformation in the beam increases. Where when repeated loadings were
investigated concluded the magnitude of the peak

applied load is

influential .This conclusion is reasonable as the upper applied load will

determine the degree of cracking within the section. One of the objectives
of the current research was to examine whether an increased no of cycles
due to higher loading frequency significantly changes structural response
within tension zone.
A Series of reinforced concrete beams have been tested in
bending under various types. It has been shown that repeated loading
causes larger deformations in both the tension and compression zones of
concrete member when compared to deformations experience under
sustained load. This results in larger curvature and deflection values for
beams under repeated loads.
2)S.L. Pagliolico, R.Doglione,J-M.Tulliani-Diagnosis of the surface
layer damage in a 1960s reinforced concrete building

International journal of Construction materials

Causes of degradation causes of the palace of public works located in
S.Giovanni square in Turin(Italy) samples are collected from building and
analysed by mans of scanning electron microscopy(SEM),X-Ray
diffraction ,Thermo gravimetric coupled with differential thermal analysis
etc..,
To determine the state of concrete, bricks , steel reinforcement inside the
structure an avg of 30 samples were collected in the building .The
samples were collected from all faces of building. Samples of bricks and
mortars

were collect with a scalpel, Incoherent efflorescences were

sampled by means of a brush from brick surface .Black crusts were

removed with a bistouri.XRD analyses and TG-DTA are performed.
Carbonation depth shows the porosity of concrete generally the carbon
dioxide concentration in air should be 280ppm when the concentration
reaches a threshold value of 400ppm then the concrete structures gets
effected by corrosion and carbonation .The reinforcing bars are protected
against corrosion by passivtaion.
Continued exposure of steel to oxidizing agents causes the formation of
layers of iron oxides and hydroxides having different degree of oxidation
with a much lower density than that of iron. This causes a considerable
increase in volume of the surface layer which generates sufficient stress
to disrupt concrete cover by cracking and spalling regarding facing bricks
and brick laying mortars the most diffuse degradations were lacunas,
pulverisation ,delaminationetc.., dissolution ad leaching of mortar
between brick courses and the presence of slats inside the masonry.
3)Santiago Guzman, Jaime C.Galvez,Jose M.Samcho-Cover cracking
reinforced concrete due to rebar corrosion induced by chloride
penetration

International journal of CONCRETE AND CEMENT RESEARCH

Corrosion of reinforcement bar Is a primary cause in deterioration of
concrete structures which may lead to failure and even collapse .In any
case the cost of the associated repair and maintenance is enormous.
Chloride induced corrosion of the reinforcing steel is known to be major
cause of premature rehabilitation of reinforced concrete structures.
The Initial stage is until aggressive specie concentration around the
reinforcement bar reaches a threshold value necessary to trigger active
corrosion
The Propagation stage is in which the rust generation
Induces tensile stresses in the concrete cover
The general conclusion that service life ends when steel depassivates on
the first calculation the chloride ingress and transportation studied when
chloride concentration around the reinforcement bar reaches a thresh hold
value
Lue the concrete cracking cover is examined through 2 nd model. The
meso scale approach has been successful for chloride ingress and
transportation and for concrete cracking. In the initial stage the proposed
finite element model reproduce results of experimental tests by means of
a priori parameter estimations acc to the characteristic of materials and
environment conditions. A model has been proposed for the analysation
of the second stage propagation stage embedded cohesive crack element
and it is able to estimate the surface cracking quite accurately. However it
is necessary to make some assumptions about the consideration of an
especially porous zone around the steel concrete interface and the
accommodation of corrosion products within the open cracks generated in
the process .In addition the rust mechanical properties need further
analysis.

4)Md Azree othuman Mydin,Mahyuddin Ramil ,Hanizam Awang

Factors of Deterioration in Building and the principles of Repair
International journal of UEM
The general building defects are regularly in the form of dampness , wall
cracks ,even water penetration to the building .Some buildings defects
may be noticeable and some other defects may not be noticeable. An
exact

identification of a building defect necessitates knowledge and

familiarity with the design and construction of a building combined with

an indulgent of methods of scientific exploration.
If we identify the correct cause of deterioration of building then the
sensible remedy can be applied. Technical knowledge and proficiency
and an indulgent of building defects and the remedial measures essential
to put the defects right. Determining the origin of the deficiency will
depend on which areas have been exaggerated.
Different causes of deterioration and defects are
A)Mechanical Agents
b) Electromagnetic Agents
c) Thermal Agents
d) Chemical Agents
e) Biological agents
f)building users
Good repair practice is central to good conservation in all countries.
Repair would be only action necessary to facilitate buildings to endure.
5)Hiroshi WATANABE and Hiroshima KOGA-General information
on deterioration of existing concrete structures and recent research
topics on the maintenance techniques in PWRI
Public works research institute has been undertaking comprehensive
research projects for effective maintenance techniques for existing
concrete structures. In the survey conducted national most of the concrete

structures deteriorated by salt attack. In this paper, the research results are
introduced and discussed to recognize importance of preventive
maintenance against deterioration salt induced corrosion. It is very imp to
establish strategic maintenance programme for the existing civil concrete
structures.
In general the % of deteriorated concrete structures is closely related with
ages there are more deteriorated structures among the older ones, and
there is no evidence for a particularly inferior decade on the other hand
not all structures deteriorate with time 54.8% of samples remained in
perfect condition for more than 35 years .Causes of deterioration are low
quality concrete and shortage of cover concrete were common.
6)Emilio Bastidas-Arteaga,Franck Schoefs,Mark G.Stewart,Xiaoming
Wang-Influence of global warming on durability of corroding Rc
Structures AProbabilisticapproach
International journal of Engineering Structures
Bastidas Arteaga proposed a Stochastic Approach to study the
influence of global warming on chloride ingress for Rc Structures but this
study only focused on the effect of climate change on the corrosion
initiation stage
The result showed that global warming can reduce the time to
failure by upto 31% shorten service life upto 15 years for moderate levels
of aggressiveness.
7)A.Balaras,Kalliopi

Drousta

,Elena

Dascalaki,Simon

Kontoyiannidis-Deterioration of European Apartment Buildings

International journal of Energy and Buildings
A survey has been conducted in a total of 349 buildings to collect the data
on the degradation of building elements. follow up analysis revealed the
most important influencing factors on the deterioration of existing
residential buildings throughout Europe. Building elements are divided

into two main categories they are architectural elements and installation
elements .Age is commonly considered as a determining factor for not
only the deterioration process but also for overall performance of
building. so many influence factors have been taken into consideration
and analysis have been made .
8) Paolo Foraboaschi, Alessia Vanin-Experimental investigation on
bricks from historical venetian buildings subjected to moisture and
salt crystallization
International journal on engineering failure analysis
The mechanical behaviour of bricks has been studied in this paper
subjected to salt crystallization and moisture .The experimental studies
reveal that moisture significantly reduces the compressive strength and
moreover moisture along with salt can also reduce the salt compressive
strength of concrete. The results of compression tests performed on
specimens extracted from bricks of a venetian building demonstrate that
moisture causes a dramatically decrease in the compression strength of a
brick.
9)O.Poupad, V.L Hoists, S.Catinaud,I.Petre-Lazar-Corrosion damage
diagnosis of a reinforced concrete beam after 40 years natural
exposure in marine environment
International journal of Cement and Concrete Research
A Detailed investigation of the chloride induced corrosion damage was
performed on a 40 years old reinforced concrete beam exposed in marine
environment. Visual observations , electrochemical measurements,
carbonation depth, total chloride content were carried out . Half cell
potential measurements were used to locate corrosion areas. All these
data indicate that on the beam one may distinguish two types of areas
high corrosion zone and low corrosion zones. Measurements have

confirmed that chloride ions are the only responsible of corrosion attack.
The comparison of the results issue from non destructive methods with
visual observation of reinforcing steels has allowed to conclude that
corrosion rate measurements confirmed the corrosion damage risks within
concrete beam and potential gradient measurement methods is very
attractive to locate the corroding area within concrete structure.
10)Harald S.Muller ,Michael Haist ,Michael Vogel-Assessment of the
sustainability

potential

of

concrete

and

concrete

structures

considering their environmental impact, performance and life time

International journal on construction and building materials
Sustainable structural engineering is based on the basic principle that the
energy and resources consumption due to construction and operation of a
structure must me minimized. the evaluation is highly complex as it
involves three factors those are environmental,technical,lifetime .Most of
the factors depend on environmental factors.

PROPOSED STUDY
As Major Problems now we are facing is Building Deterioration .This
topic has been selected as a Project and In our Vijayawada Some areas
like Bhavanipuram ,Police quarters and KR Market etc.., some selected
buildings which have been constructed 20 years back and deteriorated are
selected as sample points of the project and the root causes of
deterioration of the structures have been identified with the help of NDT
tests .and suggestion of remedial measures have been listed for the cause
of buildings deteriorated.