Influence of the void ratio of cellular concrete on the corrosion of steel reinforcement

Alexandre De Azevedo Demétrio Filho,Thaís Marques da Silva,Carlos Fernando Gomes do Nascimento,Eliana Cristina Barreto Monteiro

doi:10.21041/ra.v12i1.507

Abstract

The objective of this study was to understand whether voids intensify the triggering of reinforcement corrosion in cellular concrete, for slabs with light specific masses. The methodology was based on four tests: visual inspection, corrosion potential, electrical resistivity, and mass loss. In relation to the L1 family, the L2 and L3 families (higher air content) were shown to be more susceptible to reinforcement corrosion and mass loss from the steel bars in 90% of cases. However, the behavior of some slabs indicates the possibility of the process being asymptomatic with regard to staining, considering that the influence of the cover on the corrosion of the steel bars was verified

Highlights

Reinforced concrete is one of the most commonly-used contruction materials in the world due to its physical and mechanical properties, which includes issues regarding its durability
The widespread use of this material is attributed to its benefits of reducing specific mass and density, savings related to formwork, reinforcement, and in transportation costs, in the case of precast structures (Khodabakhshian et al, 2018; Zhang et al, 2020). Cellular concrete is another type of low-density material, which is the main object of study in this paper, where it has been produced with additives that produce air bubbles within the concrete, decreasing its specific mass (Stumm; Schweike; Stemmermann, 2018; Trong; Asamoto; Matsui, 2018; He et al, 2018; He et al, 2019)
Considering the many uses of cellular concrete because of to its lightness and lower specific weight, there is concern regarding the use of this material for reinforced concrete structural members, due to its potential behavior with regard to the propagation of steel reinforcement corrosion from the number of voids within the material and its lower mechanical strength (Du et al, 2020)

Summary

Introduction

Reinforced concrete is one of the most commonly-used contruction materials in the world due to its physical and mechanical properties, which includes issues regarding its durability. The widespread use of this material is attributed to its benefits of reducing specific mass and density, savings related to formwork, reinforcement, and in transportation costs, in the case of precast structures (Khodabakhshian et al, 2018; Zhang et al, 2020) Cellular concrete is another type of low-density material, which is the main object of study in this paper, where it has been produced with additives that produce air bubbles within the concrete, decreasing its specific mass (Stumm; Schweike; Stemmermann, 2018; Trong; Asamoto; Matsui, 2018; He et al, 2018; He et al, 2019). This study provides a reference to determine the behavior of cellular concrete, and gives information useful for its application in the construction industry

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Conclusion