Failure behavior of RC beams in relation to the extent and location of frost damage

Loading tests were performed on RC beams with the depth and location of frost damage as variables. The results showed which side of the beams was damaged by frost (i.e., the compression side or the tension side) and indicated that the maximum bearing capacity, deformation properties and failure mode varied significantly with the extent of the deterioration. Specifically, with respect to deterioration on the compression side, deeper frost damage resulted in impaired performance in terms of rigidity and displacement under the maximum load, and the failure mode was more likely to shift to that of diagonal compression. For deterioration on the tension side, it was found that shallower frost damage corresponded to better deformation performance, with the failure mode shifting to a tied arch mechanism due to bond deterioration. However, deeper frost damage caused brittle diagonal tensile failure and may have resulted in reduced deformation performance.