Technical Papers
Jul 19, 2024

Corrosion Behavior of Steel Rebars in Historical Reinforced Concrete Structures Submitted to Chlorides in the Simulated Concrete Pore Solution

Publication: Journal of Materials in Civil Engineering
Volume 36, Issue 10

Abstract

In historical reinforced concrete buildings, square ribbed rebars, round ribbed rebars and square twisted rebars are the main steel rebars. In order to determine the corrosion behavior of such historical steel rebars, we investigated the deterioration mechanisms of steel rebars in historical architecture in simulated concrete pore solution using various electrochemical tests and microscopic examination of corrosion products. The hot-rolled ribbed bar (HRB)335 rebars used in modern buildings were used as a control sample. The results demonstrated that the corrosion process of the historical rebars was similar to that of HRB335 rebars. Nevertheless, there were some differences in the chemical composition, microstructure, passive film characteristics, critical chloride ion concentration, and corrosion products. In the passivation stage, the stability order of the passive film generated on the surface of the rebars was as follows: square ribbed rebars > square twisted rebars > HRB335 rebars > round ribbed rebars. In the Cl corrosion stage, the damaging effect order of Cl on the passive film is square ribbed rebars > HRB335 rebars > square twisted rebars > round ribbed rebars. The critical chloride ion concentration was between 0.5% and 2.0% by weight. The corrosion products were mainly Fe2O3, α-FeOOH, γ-FeOOH. β-FeOOH, and protective Fe3O4. The corrosion products of HRB335 rebars were mainly nonprotective crystallized FeOOH with various morphologies. The results of this study provide a scientific foundation for the conservation design and residual life prediction of historic reinforced concrete buildings.

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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

The authors gratefully acknowledge the financial support provided by the National Key Research and Development (R&D) Program—Strategic Scientific and Technological Innovation Cooperation (Grant No. 2022YFE0208600).

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Journal of Materials in Civil Engineering
Volume 36Issue 10October 2024

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Received: Jul 29, 2023
Accepted: Mar 6, 2024
Published online: Jul 19, 2024
Published in print: Oct 1, 2024
Discussion open until: Dec 19, 2024

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Wenjie Zang [email protected]
Ph.D. Candidate, School of Architecture, Southeast Univ., Nanjing 211189, China. Email: [email protected]
Professor, School of Architecture, Southeast Univ., Nanjing 211189, China (corresponding author). ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0002-6258-9864. Email: [email protected]
Nanqiao You, Ph.D. [email protected]
School of Materials Science and Engineering, Southeast Univ., Nanjing 210096, China. Email: [email protected]
Hui Jin, Ph.D. [email protected]
School of Architecture, Southeast Univ., Nanjing 211189, China. Email: [email protected]
Jiashun Shi [email protected]
Ph.D. Candidate, School of Architecture, Southeast Univ., Nanjing 211189, China. Email: [email protected]

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