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Some questions on the corrosion of steel in concrete. Part II: Corrosion mechanism and monitoring, service life prediction and protection methods

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Abstract

This second part addresses some important issues that remain controversial despite the vast amounts of work devoted to investigating corrosion in concrete-embedded steel. Specifically, these refer to: 1) the relative significance of galvanic macrocouples and corrosion microcells in reinforced concrete structures; 2) the mechanism by which reinforcements corrode in an active state; 3) the best protective methods for preventing or stopping reinforcement corrosion; 4) the possiblity of a reliable prediction of the service life of a reinforced concrete structure; and 5) the best corrosion measurement and control methods. The responses provided are supported by experimental results, most of which were obtained by the authors themselves.

Résumé

Cette deuxième partie traite de quelques questions essentielles donnant encore matière à discussion, malgré la somme de travail consacrée à l'étude de la corrosion de l'acrier enrrobé dans le béton. Il s'agit plus précisément: 1) de l'importance relative des macrocouples galvaniques et des micropiles de corrosion dans la détérioration des structures en béton armé; 2) du mécanisme de corrosion des armatures dans une phase active; 3) des meilleures méthodes de protection pour prévenir ou arrêter la corrosion des armatures; 4) de la possibilité d'effectuer des prévisions fiables de la durée de service des structures en béton armé, et 5) des meilleures méthodes de mesure et de contrôle de la corrosion. La plupart des réponses apportées par les auteurs de cet article sont basées sur leurs propres résultats expérimentaux.

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Editorial note Carmen Andrade and Maria-Cruz Alonso are working at the Instituto Eduardo de Torroja which is a RILEM Titular Member, Dr. Andrade, who was the 1986 RILEM Medallist, have had all these years gret responsibilities within RILEM. Chairlady of the Advisory Technical Committee until 1993, she is now a member of the Coordinating Committee. She is active in 116-PCD Technical Committee on Permeability of Concrete as a Criterion of its Durability and has been appointed chairdlady of 154-EMC Technical Committee on Electrochemical Techniques for Measuring Metallic Corrosion. Carmen Andrade has been appointed RILEM Fellow in 1995.

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González, J.A., Feliú, S., Rodríquez, P. et al. Some questions on the corrosion of steel in concrete. Part II: Corrosion mechanism and monitoring, service life prediction and protection methods. Mat. Struct. 29, 97–104 (1996). https://doi.org/10.1007/BF02486199

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