Abstract As a means to assess achieving intended service life on marine exposed bridge structures, the corrosion propagation stage is being investigated. Corrosion of the steel reinforcement during the corrosion propagation was monitored on selected laboratory specimens for several years and on other specimens for a few months. The specimens were prepared with 5 cm of concrete cover and low water to cementitious (i.e., 0.41) ratio. Chloride was not present initially. An electric field was applied to drive the chlorides and reach the rebar depth until it exceeded the chloride threshold. Linear polarization tests have been monitored for over 4 years on eight specimens, and for a shorter period (approx. six months) on eight other specimens. The on-going study will assist in providing the Florida Department of Transportation with guidance as to how fast the corrosion rate will be at various chloride concentrations for rebars embedded in concrete. With these corrosion rate values, it would be possible to obtain estimations on how long it would take before cracks appear.
Discussion(0)
No comments yet. Be the first to comment.