Degradation of reinforced concrete (RC) structures is a serious safety problem affecting all industrialized countries, and the economical aspect of this problem cannot be neglected. One of the main reasons for the degradation of RC is the corrosion of steel reinforcing bars as a result of concrete cover cracking and reduction in bar cross section. As a consequence, the structural capacity of RC elements decreases progressively as degradation develops. Nondestructive testing and/or analytical formulation represent high-quality rapid methods for evaluating the corrosion penetration of bars and provide useful parameters for designing retrofits. This paper presents an additional tool that can be used to evaluate and assess the vulnerability of existing structures in terms of the determination of bar cross section lost. Using simple charts and formulas, this can be accomplished by calculating reinforcing bar cross section loss due to corrosion by measuring external crack widths in the concrete cover. Predictions were obtained by using two analytical models developed. These predictions have been satisfactorily compared with both the literature and new experimental results, as well as with previous empirical models available in the scientific literature. The experimental results were obtained by corroding real-scale concrete specimens reinforced with smooth and ribbed bars (according to old and modern building codes) using 3.5 wt% sodium chloride solution and an applied current

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Recently, corrosion prevention and monitoring of reinforced concrete (RC) structures became an important issue for seismic assessment of such kind of structures. Therefore, it is important to develop adequate models to represent material degradation into seismic behavior simulation of RC structures. Because of its effects, corrosion represents the most important form of degradation for materials and structures, both for wide diffusion and the amount of danger it presents. To understand the corrosion process is critical in order to design RC structures that are able to guarantee the required service life and in order to understand the residual service life and strength of an existing structure. The seismic behavior of a corroded framed RC structure is analyzed by means of push-over analyses, which allow understanding the development of the global behavior of the structure. Three different degrees of corrosion penetration were simulated, by means of the reduction of bars and stirrups’ diameters and concrete cover cracking and spalling, and three different configurations of corrosion, depending on the number of corroded frames and sides of the structural elements.