Understanding The Process of Corrosion in Reinforced Concrete

Why Is Concrete Corrosion a Problem?

Materials that are bad for steel start to get into the concrete and reach the structure's steel reinforcement. This is called corrosion. If you do a chemical reaction with electricity, electrons move from one side to the other. This causes ferrous and hydroxide ions to be released at the anode and the cathode.

Steel, water, and oxygen are all necessary for corrosion in reinforced concrete. Corrosion damage can be prevented by eliminating any one of these factors. This explains why dry concrete does not corrode, as well as why submerged concrete has only minimal corrosion.

Traditional techniques of corrosion prevention

There are several approaches for preventing reinforced concrete corrosion. A corrosion management system that is effective should either delay the onset of corrosion or reduce the rate of corrosion of embedded steel, or both.

Several conventional methods for preventing reinforced concrete corrosion include the following:

1. Cathodic protection;
2. Corrosion inhibitor admixtures; and
3. Corrosion-resistant coatings.

When steel rusts and develops pits or holes on its surface, its strength is lessened.

Unfortunately, given the current state of crumbling infrastructure, these traditional strategies for addressing concrete corrosion have proven to be less effective than intended. While a thick or dense concrete coating over reinforcing steel helps, it still exposes the concrete to cracking and a new set of problems. Corrosion inhibitors offer just a temporary shield. Cathodic protection is costly and has drawbacks, and repair processes frequently have short service lives and must be replaced on a constant basis.

Repairing reinforced concrete infrastructure on a continuous basis leads in significant lifecycle costs over the structure's required service life. In general, the weakness of conventional corrosion prevention techniques is that they do not properly prevent or mitigate the formation of corrosive conditions in concrete.

As previously stated, water is one of the three ingredients required for corrosion to occur. Additionally, water acts as a carrier for chloride ions, which are the primary cause of deterioration of the passive layer that would normally protect the rebar. As a result, the crucial component in steel reinforcing corrosion, as well as overall concrete deterioration, is the penetration of water and waterborne chlorides into concrete.

As a result, preventing water penetration is the first line of defence against corrosion in reinforced concrete. It is critical to use low-permeability concrete and an adequate amount of concrete cover for the application. Cortec Middle East provides the best concrete repair solutions in Dubai. Engineers use Cortec® Migrating Corrosion Inhibitors (MCI®) to fix reinforced concrete structures, concrete durability and concrete reinforcement. They can use these tools to make the structures more durable. Request for an all-purpose lubricant-free sample email us [email protected] or call us at 97144340669.