WELCOME DEAR PARTICIPANTS

Let Us Understand Corrosion

ER. P. P. PANDEY
Sr. G. M Projects
EPICONS CONSULTANTS PVT LTD

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Fly overs, bridges, Metros … connectivity means progress

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These infrastructures are the primary driver of progress and
growth of the economy and the nation at large.

 It costs money to build them

 It costs even more money to replace them

 It costs money if they are out of service

So we would like them to last very long time if NOT for ever

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But there is a devil lurking within- its name is corrosion

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Failure due to corrosion of rebars

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And worst

Abandoned to rot … waste of public money

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One of the most important agent in defining the length of
service life of bridges is corrosion ….. We all know

Therefore it requires due consideration

 While designing … strength is the big brother

 While constructing- There are issues here, workmanship, controls

 While maintaining … its hardly done. Left to nature

 While making assessment and testing … design to find root cause

of deterioration.

 While repairing/ rehabilitating – patch repair causing local

electrical incompatibility

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 Service life prediction charts

Increasing initiation period and propagation time is key to increase service life
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There are many ways to deal with this problem

 Epoxy coated steel - handling issues and local corrosion

 Hot dip galvanising – handling issues and capital cost

 Stainless steel reinforcement – high capital cost

 Basalt –epoxy bars- in experimental stage

 Epoxy coating to structure- high capital cost, peeling off, decay

due to UV rays etc- not so common

But the best and cheapest protection is still provided by concrete -

if only we can understand corrosion and those properties of
concrete that cause corrosion and those that prevent it.

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So let us understand corrosion – A short cut

Corrosion needs

Moisture – a little of it, the relative humidity in concrete pores between 60%
to 85% : less or more the corrosion rate is very low.

Oxygen- Its every where and its so small the capillaries are high ways for it,
all coatings take pride in being breathable (Epoxy ?)

Low Ph within concrete- a Ph value of 9 or less. Reduction mainly due to

carbonation by CO2. Loss of passivation layer.

Local variation in concrete forming local cells- variation in moisture content,

stray currents, dissimilar embedment etc.

Chloride in concrete- This is dangerous assassin, once there it stops never.

Works as catalyst. Present in coastal atmosphere. It acts even at high Ph.

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Corrosion is electro-chemical process

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Process of carbonation

Concrete makes its

own water too
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Relation between concrete permeability and depth of carbonation

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 See the difference

Relation between W/C ratio and RCPT value

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So what we understand so far?
Corrosion requires

 Moisture- enters from atmosphere through capillary suction

and also by diffusion. Its there in the air as vapour as well
as moisture. Concrete makes its own water during
carbonation. That water is locked in capillary pores.

 Oxygen – its every where. It enters from atmosphere through

diffusion into capillary pores.

 CO2- Its every where too. In fact its increasing day by day. It
also enters from atmosphere through diffusion into capillary
pores.

 Chloride- present in coastal atmosphere in atmospheric

moisture as NaCl ( common salt) and moves with it by
capillary suction.
They all enter /diffuse/ migrate into concrete matrix through the cover
concrete and cause corrosion of rebars. 15
Let us discuss mitigation plan against corrosion in
following five scenario

 Rehabilitation of corrosion affected structure

 Preventive protection and life enhancement of

existing sound structure

 Specification for new construction

 Workmanship at site that affects corrosion

resistance of the structure

 Patch repair – its not the end of story

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  Rehabilitation of corrosion affected structure

Assessment scheme should include tests and observations that can guide
towards finding root cause-

 Chloride profiling – chloride content at 25 mm interval { chloride content

and chloride ingress} (cathodic protection)

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 Rehabilitation of corrosion affected structure
Assessment scheme should include tests and observations that can guide
towards finding root cause-

 Depth of carbonation- if main cause is carbonation the remedial

measures- coating ( re- alkalisation –costly affair, highly impractical)

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 Rehabilitation of corrosion affected structure

 In-situ potential mapping – helps in designing cathodic protection

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 Rehabilitation of corrosion affected structure

 Porosity of concrete- taking cores (RCPT, Water absorption etc/ in

situ tests ( coating is the best solution for porous concrete)

 Relative humidity within concrete at rebar depth- pore blockers and

coating

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Preventive protection and life enhancement of existing sound structure

The seemingly sound structure should also be tested for

 Depth of carbonation - coatings

 Porosity of cover concrete- pore blocker and coatings

 Chloride ingress/ content- cathodic protection

Suggested interval- every 5 years

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 Specification for new construction

 Use of stainless steel rebars – costly so not popular.

 Coated steel – be aware of handling issues

 Surface coatings

 High performance concrete – most practical and least

costly

parameters- high strength is automatic by-product of

durable concrete
 W/C ratio less than 0.4, use SCMs
 RCPT – mot more than 1500 coulombs
 water penetration- not more than 20 mm
 Isat permeability- 0.2 ml/m2/sec

Important is to test works cube also.

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Workmanship at site that affects corrosion resistance of the structure
 Proper cover – sensitisation of workmen and
supervisors
 Control on water content –
 Cohesive mix- no segregation
 Proper compaction

Effect of curing and use of secondary cementitious materials on permeability

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Chloride threshold increases as the cover increases
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 Patch repair – its not the end of story

Patches repaired at any given time

The portions not repaired as they do not show distress at the time of
assessment and repair might be at various stages of degradation.
Eventually they will also come under distress.

Hence root cause of the degradation/ distress must be addressed.

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Design error from maintenance point of view- there should
have been a gap of 150 mm to clean and paint the joints. The
side boards are another hurdle.

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The joints must be open and easy to reach
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