The fundamental reason behind the corrosion-related deteriorations in reinforced concrete structures is the brittleness of conventional concrete, which makes the unreinforced cover prone to cracking under small tensile stresses. Unlike conventional concrete, Strain-Hardening Cementitious Composite (SHCC) has been shown to mitigate the corrosion-related damage, primarily in the propagation phase of corrosion, due to small crack widths typically limited under 100 μm. This paper summarizes important findings from an extensive study, which evaluated the corrosion protection offered by SHCC during both the initiation and the propagation phases of corrosion, and compared its effectiveness to that of conventional concrete. The experimental investigations led to the development of a novel method for identifying the critical chloride concentration (Ccrit) that is vital for determining the time-to-corrosion initiation. The novel method and additional investigations on the performance of reinforced-SHCC specimens during accelerated corrosion tests (propagation phase) provide a clearer assessment of the durability of cement-based composite structures.

Subject
Pits, Accelerated corrosion tests, Materials, Correlation, Corrosion currents, Corrosion rate, Rebar, Corrosion initiation, Corrosion cracking, Stress cracking, Macrocell current, Chlorides, Concrete
Keywords:
reinforced concrete, strain-hardening cementitious composite, engineered cementitious composite, corrosion, critical chloride content, chloride diffusion, macro-cell current, accelerated corrosion test, passive film
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2021
Association for Materials Protection and Performance (AMPP)
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