Effectiveness of Impressed Current Technique to Simulate Corrosion of Steel Reinforcement in Concrete

Abstract

Accelerated corrosion by means of the impressed current technique is widely used in concrete durability tests. In this study, the influence of varying the impressed current density level between 100 and 500 μA/cm2 on the actual degree of steel reinforcing bar corrosion as well as on the concrete strain behavior due to expansive corrosion products was experimentally investigated. Twelve reinforced-concrete prisms (150×250×300 mm) were used. The prisms were reinforced by two No. 10 reinforcing bars. Corrosion was induced by means of impressed current using electric power supplies. To depassify the steel reinforcement, 5% NaCl by weight of cement was added to the concrete mix. The strain response due to the expansion of corrosion products was measured at each face of the prisms. At the end of the corrosion phase, all the corroded reinforcing bars were removed, cleaned according to the ASTM G1-90 standard, and weighed to get the actual degree of mass loss. The results showed that, up to 7.27% mass loss, accel...