Technical Papers
Sep 22, 2023

Macrocell Effect on Chloride Threshold Value and Corrosion Rate of Steel Bar in Simulated Concrete Pore Solution

Publication: Journal of Materials in Civil Engineering
Volume 35, Issue 12

Abstract

In this work, the influence of the area ratio of the low corrosion probability area (prone to becoming cathode) and high corrosion probability area (prone to becoming anode) on the initiation of macrocell corrosion of a steel bar in a simulated pore solution was investigated, along with the depassivation mechanism under the macrocell effect. Meanwhile, the set cathode-to-anode area ratio (SC/A) and the actual cathode-to-anode (pitted) area ratio (SC/A) after corrosion initiation were compared. The results reveal that the increase in SC/A not only increases the corrosion current density but also promotes corrosion initiation drastically. A pronounced positive shift was observed at high SC/A in the initiation phase due to intensified chloride adsorption and the double-layer effect on the passive film of the anodic steel bar. The chloride threshold value (CTV) could be reduced to 42% of the original time in the simulated concrete pore solution, and the pit depth was increased by up to 124% due to the macrocell effect. In addition, the actual corrosion area (Sact) is much smaller than the set anode area (SA) because the corrosion area created by chloride ions is tiny, resulting in SC/A being higher than SC/A.

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Data Availability Statement

All data, models, and code generated or used during the study appear in the published article.

Acknowledgments

This project was supported by the Guangdong Basic and Applied Basic Research Fund Project (2021A1515110594), the Natural Science Foundation of China (52271355), the Guangdong International Science and Technology Cooperation Project (2019A050510020), the Henan Science and Technology Project (232102230124), and the Research Start-Up Funding Project of the Henan Academy of Sciences (231818019).

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Journal of Materials in Civil Engineering
Volume 35Issue 12December 2023

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Received: Sep 4, 2022
Accepted: Apr 14, 2023
Published online: Sep 22, 2023
Published in print: Dec 1, 2023
Discussion open until: Feb 22, 2024

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Postgraduate Researcher, School of Chemical Engineering and Technology, Sun Yat-Sen Univ., Zhuhai, Guangdong 519082, PR China. Email: [email protected]
Jianbo Xiong [email protected]
Professor Senior Engineer, China Communications Construction Company Fourth Harbor Engineering Institute Co., Ltd., 157 Qianjin Rd., Haizhu District, Guangzhou 510230, PR China. Email: [email protected]
Zhihong Fan [email protected]
Professor Senior Engineer, China Communications Construction Company Fourth Harbor Engineering Institute Co., Ltd., 157 Qianjin Rd., Haizhu District, Guangzhou 510230, PR China. Email: [email protected]
Zhenjiang Gu [email protected]
School of Chemical Engineering and Technology, Sun Yat-Sen Univ., Zhuhai, Guangdong 519082, PR China. Email: [email protected]
Mengzhu Chen [email protected]
School of Chemical Engineering and Technology, Sun Yat-Sen Univ., Zhuhai, Guangdong 519082, PR China. Email: [email protected]
Postdoctoral Fellow, School of Chemical Engineering and Technology, Sun Yat-Sen Univ., Zhuhai, Guangdong 519082, PR China. Email: [email protected]
Research Associate, School of Chemical Engineering and Technology, Sun Yat-Sen Univ., Zhuhai, Guangdong 519082, PR China; Institute of Chemistry, Henan Academy of Sciences, Zhengzhou 450002, PR China. ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0001-9291-662X. Email: [email protected]
Professor, School of Chemical Engineering and Technology, Sun Yat-Sen Univ., Zhuhai, Guangdong 519082, PR China; Henan Academy of Sciences, Zhengzhou 450002, PR China; Univ. of Water Resources and Electric Power, Zhengzhou 450046, PR China (corresponding author). Email: [email protected]

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