Evaluation of steel corrosion-induced concrete damage using electrical resistivity measurements

Abstract

The main objective of this research study is to demonstrate the feasibility of Electrical Resistivity (ER) measurements as an in-situ, non-destructive evaluation method for monitoring progressive damage in concrete due to steel corrosion, particularly in a marine environment. To this end, a series of laboratory experiments is performed to investigate the variation of ER values in a total of 108 reinforced concrete cubes, each with a side dimension of 200 mm. The impressed current technique is utilized to accelerate the corrosion of steel reinforcement in the concrete cubes submerged in 3.0% NaCl solution, which simulates various degrees of concrete degradation. ER measurements are performed before and after the accelerated corrosion tests on the surface of concrete specimens. It is demonstrated that ER is an excellent NDE method for the monitoring of progressive concrete damage associated with chloride-induced steel corrosion.