Experimental investigation of ribbing pattern effect on the bonding qualities of water jet cut steel reinforcement

With the rise of interest in digital fabrication of reinforced concrete structures, a great number of structural concrete designs that depart from standard prismatic shapes are being suggested. This has prompted an exploration of steel reinforcement strategies that are alternative to the classical deformed or “ribbed” rebars. One such is to cut internal reinforcement from steel plates using a waterjet cutting machine. Advantages of automated waterjet cutting steel reinforcement include high precision and accuracy, and minimal expense for increasing the complexity of (2D) reinforcement layouts. However, it is not known how the application of ribbing patterns along the cut edge of reinforcing bars affects the steel–concrete bond. This work conducts experimental pullout tests of waterjet-cut steel plate reinforcement with three different ribbing patterns and compares the bond strength with equivalent classic rebars. Two of the tested geometries averaged within 90–91% of the pull-out force of conventional rebar, demonstrating viability of this alternative reinforcement method.