Evaluation of Corrosion Resistance of Steel Dowels Used for Concrete Pavements
Publication: Journal of Materials in Civil Engineering
Volume 20, Issue 10
Abstract
In concrete pavements, steel dowels are exposed to a particularly aggressive environment that leads to depassivation and greatly reduces the corrosion initiation stage. Aggressive agents such as chlorides and have easy access to the dowels through pavement joints and, consequently, the corrosion performance of the system depends largely on the properties of the steel dowel being used. This study investigates the corrosion performance of several types of steel dowels embedded in concrete and subjected to accelerated corrosion by exposure to 3.5% NaCl solution for . Seven types of dowels were tested: bare carbon steel, stainless steel clad, grout-filled hollow stainless steel, microcomposite steel, carbon steel coated with bendable epoxy, and carbon steel coated with nonbendable epoxies. Half-cell potential, polarization resistance, visual inspections, and microscopic investigations by scanning electron microscopy were carried out to evaluate their corrosion performance. Results show that microcomposite steel dowels exhibit greater resistance to corrosion propagation than carbon steel dowels, but lesser than stainless clad and stainless hollow bars. In epoxy-coated bars, corrosion occurred at a few localized defective areas, generally at holidays and edges of bar ends. No significant difference was observed between nonbendable and bendable epoxy-coated dowels.
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Acknowledgments
This work was performed with support from the California Department of Transportation (Caltrans), Division of Research and Innovation. Technical assistance was also provided by the California DOT Transportation Laboratory. This work represents the opinions of the writers and not necessarily those of the project sponsors.
References
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Copyright
© 2008 ASCE.
History
Received: Jun 21, 2006
Accepted: May 21, 2007
Published online: Oct 1, 2008
Published in print: Oct 2008
Notes
Note. Associate Editor: Byung Hwan Oh
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