An Integrated Sacrificial Anode System for Marine-Reinforced Concrete Beams with Short-Term Flexural Enhancement: An Experimental and Analytical Investigation

Abstract The durability of marine bridge infrastructure is severely affected by chloride-induced reinforcement corrosion, and load-induced cracking can accelerate the ingress of aggressive species. This study investigates an integrated sacrificial anode system in which alloy plates are incorporated into reinforced concrete beams to provide cathodic protection and participate in load transfer. Four-point bending tests and digital image correlation were used to characterize the flexural and interfacial responses of four beam configurations after controlled chloride exposure. At the test age, the inverted T zinc alloy configuration increased the ultimate load by 22% and the cracking load by 37.2% relative to the control and maintained better interfacial integrity than the linear configuration. Under the same geometry, the zinc alloy specimens attained a 9.9% higher ultimate load than the aluminum alloy specimens. A Popovics-based bond–slip model incorporating shape aspect ratio and modulus ratio reproduced the measured monotonic response. The proposed configuration integrates the sacrificial anode function with improved short-term crack control, load transfer, and interface stability. The evolution of the mechanical contribution under anode consumption, fatigue, wet–dry cycling, and interface aging remains to be established.