Abstract

This paper aims to predict the corrosion of a fully cement-grouted rockbolt induced by chloride diffusion in a cement mortar grout. From the viewpoint of the long-term durability, a rockbolt may be deteriorated by chemical components, such as sulphate and chloride, in groundwater. Especially, the steel rod of a rockbolt is corroded mainly by chloride. The rockbolt corrosion results in the volume expansion of a rod and then the cracking of a cement grout. In this study, the chloride diffusion coefficient of a cement mortar grout was used to evaluate the possibility of rockbolt corrosion by chloride, and to predict the long-term durability of a rockbolt. The electric acceleration test method was adopted to measure the chloride diffusion coefficient. In addition, a simple pullout testing system was newly proposed to measure the pullout capacity of a rockbolt more easily in a laboratory condition. From the experiments, it was showed that the chloride could diffuse in the cement grout more easily than in ordinary concrete materials. As a result, it was considered that a rockbolt might be easily corroded in a short term by the diffusion of chemical components with high concentration, although it was fully grouted.