Influence of steel–concrete interface condition on galvanic corrosion currents in carbonated concrete

Abstract

This paper presents specific experiments which were developed in order to assess galvanic currents in macrocell corrosion specimens involving active steel in carbonated concrete and passive steel in sound concrete. The influence of the steel–concrete interface condition on the galvanic current was also experimentally investigated. To focus on macrocell corrosion rate assessment, the initiation time of the corrosion process (concrete carbonation) was accelerated. FEM simulations were carried out in order to enhance the physical comprehension of these corrosion experiments. It was found that, in realistic condition, the electrical coupling of active and passive steel areas leads to high galvanic currents and consequently high corrosion levels according to RILEM recommendation. Moreover, steel–concrete interfacial defaults significantly increase the macrocell driving potential and, therefore, the galvanic corrosion current.