By

Amina Yousif Alharan

REINFORCEMENT
CORROSION
Introduction

 The corrosion of reinforcement in

concrete is a very important, long-
term durability problem for concrete.
 the damaged concrete with a high
permeability leads to a rapid
penetration of aggressive chemicals
into the concrete.
Steel Corrosion in Concrete

 Much research has been

conducted to develop corrosion
protection systems that can
prolong the life span of reinforced
concrete structures.
 There are two main causes of the
corrosion in the reinforcement
bar:
 (1) localized breakdown of the
passive film in the surface of
rebar due to chloride ion attack,
 (2) general breakdown of the
passivity by neutralization of
concrete, mostly by the reaction
with atmospheric carbon dioxide.
 The use of high
performance
concrete would
definitely
reduce the risk
of corrosion
 In order to understand the corrosion
protection systems, one has to
understand the mechanism behind the
corrosion process in reinforced concrete
structures.
 A simplified process of corrosion in
reinforced concrete is as follows.
 A rebar is embedded in moist concrete.
 The concrete pores contain various
dissolved ions .
 Once the passive film or coating on the
surface of the rebar is destroyed either
by carbonation or the presence of
chloride ions
 the rebar corrosion will most likely take
place, provided that the oxygen is also
present
 Many structures experience severe
environmental conditions during their
service life.
 In order to build the concrete structure
that have high resistance against rebar
corrosion, we need to make concrete
that can survive severe weather
conditions.
Corrosion Control in Concrete

 We have to systematically use a

combination of different measures,
such as adequate concrete cover,
good concrete quality, adequate
corrosion inhibitors, and corrosion-
resistant reinforcements.
Concrete Cover

 Concrete cover is the first line of

defense for the corrosion protection.
 There are three important aspects that
must be considered at the same time :
 thickness, chloride permeability, and
crack resistance.
 Concrete cover with high quality and
adequate thickness

 The cover depth should be designed
such that the chloride ions on the
surface of rebar do not exceed the
critical concentration within a required
time period.
 On a previous studies L. Abosrra et al
(2011) showed the corrosion rate of steel
bars in concrete having the same
compressive strength increased as the
accelerated corrosion time extended. This
is due to higher exposure of sufficient
chloride concentration to reach the steel
bar surface to cause the passivity
breakdown and create more corrosive
environment on steel surface.
in the Figure show that time to crack
initiation in all the specimens increases
with increase in concrete cover (Al-Harthy
.et al 2011)
 However, adequate concrete cover will
not completely prevent reinforced
concrete from experiencing corrosion
damage, because most of concrete
covers crack due to internal or external
loads (including environmental and
traffic loadings).
Alternative Reinforcements
 Concrete has very low tensile strength,
and it is impossible to keep concrete from
cracking during the service life of concrete
 Alternative Reinforcements

 Once the crack occurs, chloride ions can

easily penetrate through the cracks to
the rebar. Therefore, no matter how
good the concrete quality is, the final
line of defense against corrosion of
rebar is the rebar itself.
 Currently, there are two
alternatives to solve this problem :
 (1) The conventional mild steel
can be coated with an effective
barrier to prevent direct contact of
steel with chloride, moisture, and
oxygen .
 (2) The reinforcement is made of
corrosion-resistant materials.
Currently, the first option may be
the most economical one.
Alternative Reinforcements
Epoxy-coated rebars (ECR) have been
used since early the 1970’s with a
successful performance record. There are
some problems associated with ECR,
such as damage to coating during
transport and handling and cracking on
coating rising from the rebars at
construction site that may reduce the
effectiveness of ECR.
epoxy-coated rebars
A close view of the epoxy-coated rebars. Corrosion
.started on the locations with damaged coatings
 One of the 5-year research projects from
the Federal Highway Administration
(FHWA) involved the testing of more than
40 types of newly developed coatings.
The results showed that major corrosion
damage is due to defects in coatings,
which may be caused by insufficient
thickness of the coating, tie wire marks,
out-of-door storage etc. (McDonald et al.,
1994)
.close view of the epoxy-coated rebars. Surface damages can be seen
Alternative Solid Bars

 Advanced Carbon- and Glass-Fiber

Reinforced Polymer Bars (CFRP and
GFRP bars)
 Using CFRP and GFRP as rebars would
completely solve the problem of
corrosion.
 The FRP rebars have strength up to 6-
10 times of black steel and weight up to
one fifth of the steel.
Conclusion
 higher concrete strength reduced the
steel corrosion rates.
 Thin concrete cover and poor
concrete quality increases the risk of
carbonation and increase corrosion.
 Using FRP rebar would completely
solve the problem of corrosion.
 The lower moisture content the lower
corrosion rate.
 Corrosion rate of steel bars depends on
concrete strength and exposure time of
accelerated corrosion test. As the
exposure time increased the corrosion
rate increased
References
1) Cement & Concrete Composites 18
(1996) 47-590 1996/ Elsevier Science
Limited / Deterioration of Concrete Due
to Reinforcement Steel Corrosion.
2. Cement and Concrete Research 34
(2004) 2159–2167/ Corrosion influence
on bond in reinforced concrete
3) Congqi Fanga,*, Karin Lundgrenb,
Liuguo Chena, Chaoying Zhua
4) Construction and Building Materials 25
(2011) 3915–3925/ Elsevier Science
Limited / Corrosion of steel
reinforcement in concrete of different
compressive strengthsL. Abosrra, A.F.
Ashour, M. Youseffi
5) Ali S. Al-Harthy , Mark G. Stewart, John
Mullard, Magazine of Concrete Research,
2011, Concrete cover cracking caused
by steel reinforcement corrosion