Reinforcing bars, made of carbon steel, are used to increase the tensile strength of concrete and masonry structures. They are usually welded or tied together in a grid or cage shape before being cast into the structure. Corrosion-resistant bars are used in marine and bridge construction.
A reinforcing bar is a carbon steel bar typically used to increase the tensile strength of masonry and concrete structures. Carbon steel is ideal for use within concrete structures due to the similar thermal expansion characteristics of the two materials. A rebar typically has numerous surface ridges to help anchor it to the concrete. These bars are usually arranged in a grid or cage shape before being cast into the concrete. Reinforcement bars are usually welded, tied or coupled together before installation.
While concrete has excellent compressive strength, it generally has very low tensile strength. A reinforcing bar is usually required to increase the overall strength of this material. Masonry materials such as brick and block also suffer from limited tensile strength; reinforcing bars are also often cast. Many masonry materials have strategic voids for rebar placement during construction. Once the bars are in place, the voids are filled with mortar to further strengthen the structure.
Carbon steel is typically used to reinforce concrete and masonry due to its high tensile strength and similar thermal expansion characteristics. Any strong material could be used to reinforce the concrete, but the different thermal expansion characteristics in the two materials could cause the concrete to crack or break. To further prevent this from happening, rebars typically have numerous ridges along their surface to keep them from slipping out of the concrete under enormous stresses. The ends of a rebar are also hooked into the concrete to further prevent it from being pulled out.
In most cases, a rebar is constructed from raw steel and is prone to corrosion. In normal applications, the concrete covering the bar is sufficient to protect it from degradation. In marine applications, galvanized or stainless steel reinforcing bars are often used for added corrosion protection. These corrosion resistant reinforcing bars are also used for bridge construction in places where corrosive de-icing materials are used on the roads. Special fiber reinforced polymer rods have been introduced in recent years for use in highly corrosive environments.
Rebars are usually fabricated in some type of grid or cage shape before being cast into a concrete structure. The bars are typically welded or tied together and their ends bent into a hook shape. Bars constructed of galvanized steel or fiber-reinforced polymer cannot be welded and must be tied together using a corrosion-resistant type of wire. Rebar joints are often used to join bars together in precast concrete products. After the bars are placed and bolted together, the supports hold the fabricated structure in place while the concrete is poured.
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