Steel corrosion rates in concrete in contact to sea water

Abstract

There are few data on corrosion rates of reinforcements in real marine conditions. In present work corrosion rates at long term are presented in the case of small specimens and large reinforced concrete blocks in direct contact to natural sea water. The small specimens had embedded bars at different cover depths and the tests lasted from 10 to 23 years and the corrosion rates have been measured periodically by using the polarization resistance method. The large blocks have been semi-buried around 25 years in the tidal area of a beach in the South of Spain. Their corrosion rates have been measured only four times and the curiosity is that the bars are not corroding in spite of the high contamination at the 3 cm cover depth after so long exposure. Finally, is presented the statistical distribution of corrosion rates found in other structures also in marine environment.