Corrosion Evolution of Steel Reinforced Concrete Under Simulated Tidal and Immersion Zones of Marine Environment

doi:10.1007/s40195-018-0867-5

Abstract

Abstract:

The corrosion evolution processes of steel reinforced concrete under simulated tidal and immersion zones of marine environment were investigated by using electrochemical measurements and corrosion morphology observations. The results indicate that the corrosion of rebar in concrete under both environments experiences the deterioration from passivation to pitting corrosion and then to general corrosion. Specially, the pitting plays the major role only in the early stage of corrosion, and the general corrosion replaces the dominate role of pitting during the long-term corrosion. In addition, both the pitting depth on local surface and the rust thickness on the overall surface of rebar in the tidal condition are larger than those in immersion condition, which is attributed to the faster corrosion rate in tidal zone caused by the concentrated chloride ions and sufficient oxygen supply.

Key words: Marine environment, Reinforced concrete, Corrosion evolution, Pitting, General corrosion

Jie Wei, Chang-Gang Wang, Xin Wei, Xin Mu, Xiao-Yan He, Jun-Hua Dong, Wei Ke. Corrosion Evolution of Steel Reinforced Concrete Under Simulated Tidal and Immersion Zones of Marine Environment[J]. Acta Metallurgica Sinica (English Letters), 2019, 32(7): 900-912.

Figures/Tables 19

Fig. 1 Schematic diagram of the electrode system for RC samples: a side sectional view, b top sectional view

Fig. 2 Ecorr evolution of rebar in concrete: a immersion zone, b tidal zone

Table 1 Guidelines for corrosion potential data interpretation

E_corr versus CSE (V)	Corrosion probability (%)
>?-?0.20	10
-?0.35?to?-?0.20	50
<?-?0.35	90

Fig. 3 Evolution of EIS plots of rebar in concrete: a-c simulated immersion zone, d-f simulated tidal zone, a, d Nyquist plots, b, e Bode modulus plots, c, f Bode phase angle plots

Fig. 4 Schematic diagram of the equivalent circuit model

Table 2 Fitting results of EIS data of rebar in immersion zone

Days	R_s (kΩ cm²)	CPE₁-Y₀ (Ω^-1 cm^-2 s^-n1)	n ₁	R₁ (kΩ cm²)	CPE_dl-Y₀ (Ω^-1 cm^-2 s^-ndl)	n _dl	R_ct (kΩ cm²)	χ²?×?10⁴
1	1.353	0.105	0.467	3857	0.036	0.906	2719	3.259
2	1.354	0.119	0.450	2817	0.035	0.895	3309	3.698
2.5	1.478	0.208	0.453	1.526	0.082	0.796	42.34	0.310
4	1.600	0.150	0.455	1.305	0.046	0.788	226.4	1.751
30	2.397	0.165	0.502	1.069	0.065	0.766	87.46	1.180
80	2.228	0.412	0.218	1.124	0.080	0.695	33.69	1.581
110	2.256	0.667	0.296	2.895	0.084	0.693	23.20	4.334
160	1.769	0.570	0.174	3.133	0.076	0.706	20.45	1.010

Table 3 Fitting results of EIS data of rebar in tidal zone

Cycles	R_s (kΩ cm²)	CPE₁-Y₀ (Ω^-1 cm^-2 s^-n1)	n ₁	R₁ (kΩ cm²)	CPE_dl-Y₀ (Ω^-1 cm^-2 s^-ndl)	n _dl	R_ct (kΩ cm²)	χ²?×?10⁴
C1	6.422	0.440	0.541	3457	0.023	0.894	4098	3.091
C2	6.259	0.093	0.557	5.183	0.032	0.911	110.5	2.568
C3	3.127	0.206	0.415	5.889	0.049	0.912	15.37	0.725
C10	3.221	0.424	0.369	6.241	0.097	0.925	4.635	1.058
C30	4.866	0.454	0.340	9.271	0.096	0.921	6.323	0.704
C80	8.331	0.357	0.297	12.43	0.095	0.912	8.418	1.113
C110	9.386	0.286	0.241	16.41	0.109	0.919	10.07	1.988
C160	9.766	0.277	0.244	18.38	0.118	0.938	9.607	2.532

Fig. 5 Comparison of Rs in immersion and tidal zones

Fig. 6 Comparison of R1 in immersion and tidal zones

Table 4 Criteria for estimating rebar corrosion conditions

Corrosion rate (μA cm^-2)	Extent of corrosion
I_corr?<?0.1	Passive state
0.1?<?I_corr?<?0.5	Low-to-moderate corrosion
0.5?<?I_corr?<?1.0	Moderate-to-high corrosion
I_corr?>?1.0	High corrosion

Fig. 7 Comparison of Icorr in immersion and tidal zones

Fig. 8 Evolution of EIS plots with wet-dry process in tidal zone for different cycles

Fig. 9 Evolution of Rs with time in different fluctuating tide cycles

Fig. 10 Evolution of Rp with time in different fluctuating tide cycles

Fig. 11 Macrocorrosion morphologies of rebar surface with corrosion product for immersion zone a, b, tidal zone c, d

Fig. 12 Macrocorrosion morphologies of rebar matrix after removing the corrosion product for immersion zone a, tidal zone b

Fig. 13 Microcorrosion morphologies of rebar matrix after removing the corrosion product for immersion zone a, tidal zone b

Table 5 EDS element analysis of different positions (wt%)

Element	Fe	C	Mn	Si	O
Dark phase	94.79	3.58	1.63	-	-
White phase	63.23	22.72	1.31	0.34	12.41

Fig. 14 Cross-sectional corrosion morphologies of rebar in immersion zone a and tidal zone b

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