Experimental Investigation of Chloride Ion Penetration and Reinforcement Corrosion in Reinforced Concrete Member

Abstract

This paper represents the experimental investigation of chloride penetration into plain concretes and reinforced concretes. The main objective of this work is to study the main influencing parameters affecting corrosion of steel in concrete. Plain cement concrete and reinforced cement concrete with different water-cement ratios and different cover depth were subjected to ponding test. Ponding of specimens were done for different periods into 10% NaCl solution. Depth of penetration of chloride solution into specimens was measured after ponding. Specimens were crushed and reinforcements were washed using HNO3 solution and weight loss due to corrosion was calculated accordingly. There was a linear relationship between depth of penetration and water-cement ratio. It was also observed that, corrosion of reinforcing steel increases with chloride ponding period and with water-cement ratio. Corrosion of steel in concrete can be minimized by providing good quality concrete and sufficient concrete cover over the reinforcing bars. Water-cement ratio has to be low enough to slow down the penetration of chloride salts into concrete.