Carbon steel electrodes within chloride induced reinforcement corrosion in cracked concrete: Approximation to deterministic system response

Research on chloride-induced corrosion in cracked, reinforced concrete is of steady economic and scientific importance. The ever-growing amount of reinforced concrete structures in need for maintenance and preservation calls for suitable and reliable methods to assess the current state. The present study demonstrates a specimen design that allows authentic corrosion monitoring, including solely carbon mild steel as working and counter electrodes, singularly cracked concrete as electrolytes and a conservative dismantling of the anodic steel-concrete interface (SCI) at the end of 180 days of monitoring. The electrochemical features of the evolved specimen narrow down to the textbook behavior of the investigated electrodes according to the electro potential series of metals. The most prominent results are the chloride profiles at depth of rebar along the SCI, the build-up of driving potential, and the decisive contribution arising from the anodic equilibrium potential. Accordingly, future repair methods should always include observation of the anodic equilibrium potential and their effectiveness is clearly addressed in the course of that value.