Steel Corrosion in Concrete at the Marine Tidal Zone: The Roles of Crack Width and Organic Corrosion Inhibitors
Publication: Journal of Materials in Civil Engineering
Volume 36, Issue 5
Abstract
Organic corrosion inhibitors (OCI) have been widely accepted as a reliable method for enhancing the durability of marine reinforced concrete structures. However, the effect of OCI on steel corrosion is not clear in the case of cracks appearing in the concrete cover. In this paper, steel corrosion behaviors in cracked concrete with different crack widths, intact concrete containing OCI, and cracked concrete containing the OCI exposed to the marine tidal zone were investigated through open-circuit potential tests and EIS measurements. The obtained results illustrate that the corrosion rate of steel in cracked concrete is reduced with the decrease of crack width having an initial width of less than less than or equal to 200 μm in the marine tidal zone. Based on the and values, it is found that the alcohol amine-based OCIs can improve the corrosion resistance of steel in intact concrete and concrete with microcracks (with a width of less than 100 μm) exposed to the marine tidal zone. The carboxylic acid-based OCIs aggravate the steel corrosion due to the hydrophobicity provided by carboxylic acids for seawater transport through cracks. The ester-based OCIs also increase the steel corrosion rate as it accelerates concrete carbonation.
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Data Availability Statement
Some or all data, models, or code that support the findings of this study are available from the corresponding author upon reasonable request.
Acknowledgments
This work is a part of a series of projects financially supported by the Chinese National Natural Science Foundation (NSF) of China (Grant Nos. U2106219, U2106220, and U22A20244), the National Key Research and Development Program (Grant No. 2021YFB2600704), and the Outstanding Youth Fund of Shandong Province (Grant No. ZR2021JQ17).
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Published In
Journal of Materials in Civil Engineering
Volume 36 • Issue 5 • May 2024
Copyright
© 2024 American Society of Civil Engineers.
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Received: Nov 5, 2022
Accepted: Oct 19, 2023
Published online: Feb 23, 2024
Published in print: May 1, 2024
Discussion open until: Jul 23, 2024
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