Galvanic Corrosion of Mill-Scaled Carbon Steel Coupled to AISI 304 Stainless Steel in the Chloride-Contaminated Mortars
Publication: Journal of Materials in Civil Engineering
Volume 35, Issue 5
Abstract
In order to assess the durability of concrete structures reinforced by different types of steel in aggressive environments, the galvanic corrosion of mill-scaled carbon steel was investigated when it was connected to AISI 304 stainless steel characterized by various cathode/anode surface area ratios () in chloride-contaminated mortars. The galvanic potential and the galvanic current density of the coupling carbon steel were measured, and the corrosion state of the mill-scaled carbon steel was inspected after 1,450 days. The results indicated that the potential of the carbon steel was slightly positively shifted by the stainless steel. High ratios promoted the passivation of the coupling carbon steel and lowered the corrosion current density in the chloride-contaminated mortars. The galvanic current densities of the carbon steel-stainless steel couples increased with ratio. Because the corrosion current density of the mill-scaled carbon steel was nearly one order of magnitude higher than the galvanic current density, the total corrosion current density of the coupling mill-scaled carbon steel generally decreased, and its overall corrosion diminished with increasing ratio. Finally, based on the results of this study, the ratio is recommended to be higher than 2:1 to ensure the sufficient durability of submerged concrete structures in an aggressive concrete environment.
Practical Applications
Corrosion of reinforcement is one of the key factors that cause the failure of marine concrete structures. The concrete structure needs to be repaired when rebar corrosion is evident. The application of stainless-steel reinforcement was thought to be a reliable method to improve the durability of the repaired concrete structures because of the high-corrosion resistance of stainless steel. However, the long-term galvanic corrosion between carbon steel and stainless steel in marine concrete structures is a major concern for engineers because of the high different potential between the two types of steel. In this study, the corrosion behavior of the mill-scaled carbon steel coupled to AISI 304 stainless steel in chloride-contaminated mortars simulating the marine environment was investigated. The results suggested that when the cathode/anode surface area ratio is higher than 2:1, the carbon steel-stainless steel couples can ensure sufficient durability of the repaired concrete structures in the simulated marine environment. The results of this study can provide guidance to the design of the repair works of corroded concrete structures by the application of stainless-steel reinforcements.
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Data Availability Statement
The datasets generated during and/or analyzed during the current study are available in the ZENODO repository, https://doi.org/10.5281/zenodo.4762742.
Acknowledgments
This study was supported by the National Natural Science Foundation of China (52079043 and 52179061).
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Journal of Materials in Civil Engineering
Volume 35 • Issue 5 • May 2023
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© 2023 American Society of Civil Engineers.
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Received: Mar 18, 2022
Accepted: Aug 16, 2022
Published online: Feb 28, 2023
Published in print: May 1, 2023
Discussion open until: Jul 28, 2023
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