This work presents the preliminary results of the project: “Effect of the environment on reinforcement durability” (DURACON), which presents the physicomechanical and chemical characterization of the types of concrete prepared in the participating countries, as well as of the environment to which they are exposed. These results show the potentiality and probability of future reinforcement corrosion, depending on the type of mixture and the environment to which it is exposed.

To that effect, concrete specimens, with and without reinforcement, were prepared for electrochemical and physical/mechanical/chemical tests using the existing materials in each participating country, following premises that enabled the preparation of similar concrete samples. So two water/cement (w/c) ratios (0.45 and 0.65) were selected, where the concrete with w/c = 0.45 had to have a minimum cement content of 400 Kg/m3 and the one with w/c = 0.65 a compressive strength of 210 Kg/cm2. Portland I cement was used and the aggregate was silica type crushed with a 13-mm. Maximum Nominal Size (MNS) and quartz sand. The specimens were exposed to two types of environments, urban and marine (at least two stations for each country), making a total of 53 test stations distributed among twelve countries (Argentina, Bolivia, Brazil, Chile, Colombia, Cuba, Mexico, Spain, Uruguay, Paraguay, Portugal and Venezuela).The environment was evaluated using ISO Standard 9223 and the concrete was characterized by measuring compressive strength, modulus of elasticity, total and effective porosity, chloride permeability according to ASTM standards, as well as resistance to water absorption, using the Fagerlund method.

After a one-year exposure, the results of the corrosion potentiality and probability analysis of the reinforcement in the different test stations show that, for marine atmospheres, the most aggressive environment is at the Cabo Raso station in Portugal, inducing the greatest steel-corrosion probability and the least aggressive is the one at Valparaíso in Chile. For carbonation, it was determined that the concrete prepared in Venezuela is the one that has the greatest probability of causing corrosion by carbonation of the reinforcement, with the station at Cali, Colombia being the one that would least induce corrosion of the reinforcement.

Subject
Time of wetness, Marine environments, Absorption, Atmosphere, Probability, Porosity, Carbonation, Cement, Reinforced concrete, Chlorides, Durability, Concrete, Reinforcement
Keywords:
Reinforced Concrete, Environmental factors, Atmospheric Corrosion, Carbonation, Chloride Ion Diffusion
© 2004 Association for Materials Protection and Performance (AMPP). All rights reserved. No part of this publication may be reproduced, stored in a retrieval system, or transmitted, in any form or by any means (electronic, mechanical, photocopying, recording, or otherwise) without the prior written permission of AMPP. Positions and opinions advanced in this work are those of the author(s) and not necessarily those of AMPP. Responsibility for the content of the work lies solely with the author(s).
2004
Association for Materials Protection and Performance (AMPP)
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