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Deterioration detection and safety assessment for reinforced concrete structures caused by rebar corrosion in coastal areas based on YOLOv7-AM

Deterioration detection and safety assessment for reinforced concrete structures caused by rebar corrosion in coastal areas based on YOLOv7-AM
Deterioration detection and safety assessment for reinforced concrete structures caused by rebar corrosion in coastal areas based on YOLOv7-AM

Rebar corrosion threatens coastal reinforced concrete (RC) structures. Traditional inspection methods are laborious, while deep learning often focuses on load-induced damage, neglecting environmental deterioration. This study bridges the gap between surface damage detection and durability assessment. First, relationships between rebar mass loss rate and component bearing capacity were established based on 398 RC beam and column tests. Second, a durability surface deterioration dataset (DSD) with 5368 images of normal cracks, corrosion cracks, and spalling was developed. Third, an improved YOLOv7-AM network integrating Convolutional Block Attention Module (CBAM) was proposed, achieving mean average precisions of 90.02 % and 91.21 % at 640 × 640 and 800 × 800 pixel inputs, outperforming mainstream models in multi-class damage recognition. Finally, a novel system combining damage identification with durability assessment was constructed, enabling automated safety evaluation. This study provides an efficient, accurate solution for coastal RC structure maintenance, significantly advancing corrosion-induced deterioration assessment.

Concrete durability, Deep learning, Object detection, Rebar corrosion, Reinforced concrete structure, Safety assessment
Zou, Dujian
f932d3d9-b218-4268-a86e-0bb63aec1e31
Hu, Qiaosong
8ca67524-a31a-4f0a-b7a9-f0fc000862dc
Bai, Zhilin
7bb23b3d-31f1-448f-b338-a41dac5969be
Zhang, Ming
edeebb0b-cfae-4db1-a919-4c4e5fdae724
Liu, Tiejun
07e72a65-be75-4b13-b54d-9ed949c93470
Zhou, Ao
5b42c2a4-26b2-416e-ab3c-446f1ece7a20
Li, Ye
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Zou, Dujian
f932d3d9-b218-4268-a86e-0bb63aec1e31
Hu, Qiaosong
8ca67524-a31a-4f0a-b7a9-f0fc000862dc
Bai, Zhilin
7bb23b3d-31f1-448f-b338-a41dac5969be
Zhang, Ming
edeebb0b-cfae-4db1-a919-4c4e5fdae724
Liu, Tiejun
07e72a65-be75-4b13-b54d-9ed949c93470
Zhou, Ao
5b42c2a4-26b2-416e-ab3c-446f1ece7a20
Li, Ye
86d13351-982d-46c3-9347-22794f647f86

Zou, Dujian, Hu, Qiaosong, Bai, Zhilin, Zhang, Ming, Liu, Tiejun, Zhou, Ao and Li, Ye (2026) Deterioration detection and safety assessment for reinforced concrete structures caused by rebar corrosion in coastal areas based on YOLOv7-AM. Journal of Building Engineering, 119, [115269]. (doi:10.1016/j.jobe.2026.115269).

Record type: Article

Abstract

Rebar corrosion threatens coastal reinforced concrete (RC) structures. Traditional inspection methods are laborious, while deep learning often focuses on load-induced damage, neglecting environmental deterioration. This study bridges the gap between surface damage detection and durability assessment. First, relationships between rebar mass loss rate and component bearing capacity were established based on 398 RC beam and column tests. Second, a durability surface deterioration dataset (DSD) with 5368 images of normal cracks, corrosion cracks, and spalling was developed. Third, an improved YOLOv7-AM network integrating Convolutional Block Attention Module (CBAM) was proposed, achieving mean average precisions of 90.02 % and 91.21 % at 640 × 640 and 800 × 800 pixel inputs, outperforming mainstream models in multi-class damage recognition. Finally, a novel system combining damage identification with durability assessment was constructed, enabling automated safety evaluation. This study provides an efficient, accurate solution for coastal RC structure maintenance, significantly advancing corrosion-induced deterioration assessment.

Text
Manuscript-JBE-revised1203 - Accepted Manuscript
Restricted to Repository staff only until 17 January 2028.
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More information

Accepted/In Press date: 9 January 2026
e-pub ahead of print date: 14 January 2026
Published date: 17 January 2026
Keywords: Concrete durability, Deep learning, Object detection, Rebar corrosion, Reinforced concrete structure, Safety assessment

Identifiers

Local EPrints ID: 511278
URI: http://eprints.soton.ac.uk/id/eprint/511278
PURE UUID: bb74f62e-70af-435f-a362-821fee714d12

Catalogue record

Date deposited: 11 May 2026 16:43
Last modified: 12 May 2026 02:16

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Contributors

Author: Dujian Zou
Author: Qiaosong Hu
Author: Zhilin Bai
Author: Ming Zhang
Author: Tiejun Liu
Author: Ao Zhou
Author: Ye Li ORCID iD

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