Delft University of Technology a Review on Stray Current-Induced
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Delft University of Technology A review on stray current-induced steel corrosion in infrastructure Chen, Zhipei; Koleva, Dessi; van Breugel, Klaas DOI 10.1515/corrrev-2017-0009 Publication date 2017 Document Version Final published version Published in Corrosion Reviews Citation (APA) Chen, Z., Koleva, D., & van Breugel, K. (2017). A review on stray current-induced steel corrosion in infrastructure. Corrosion Reviews, 35(6), 397-423. https://doi.org/10.1515/corrrev-2017-0009 Important note To cite this publication, please use the final published version (if applicable). Please check the document version above. Copyright Other than for strictly personal use, it is not permitted to download, forward or distribute the text or part of it, without the consent of the author(s) and/or copyright holder(s), unless the work is under an open content license such as Creative Commons. Takedown policy Please contact us and provide details if you believe this document breaches copyrights. We will remove access to the work immediately and investigate your claim. This work is downloaded from Delft University of Technology. For technical reasons the number of authors shown on this cover page is limited to a maximum of 10. Corros Rev 2017; 35(6): 397–423 Zhipei Chen*, Dessi Koleva and Klaas van Breugel A review on stray current-induced steel corrosion in infrastructure https://doi.org/10.1515/corrrev-2017-0009 Received January 23, 2017; accepted September 29, 2017; 1 Introduction previously published online November 9, 2017 1.1 Corrosion of steel in infrastructure Abstract: Metallic corrosion can cause substantial damage at various levels and in almost all types of infrastructure. Corrosion, from the Latin “corrodere”, means “to chew For metallic corrosion to occur, a certain external environ- away” or “to attack” a material as a result of chemical ment and the presence of corrodents are the prerequisites. and/or physical interaction between this material and its Stray current-induced corrosion, however, is a rather environment. Corrosion is not limited to metals only but underestimated issue in the field of corrosion and civil affects other materials as well (glass, wood, polymers, engineering. Stray current arising from power sources and ceramics, etc.), which also corrode or degrade during their then circulating in metal structures may initiate corrosion service life (Landolt, 2007). The subject of this paper is the or even accelerate existing corrosion processes. The most corrosion of metals, particularly steel, which is a main frequent sources of stray current are light rail transits and construction material for infrastructure worldwide. Addi- subways, which are also main traffic tools with continu- tionally, from more than 60 categorized corrosion types, ously accelerating urbanization all over the world. Stray as recognized in the field of corrosion science and engi- currents from these systems may easily flow into nearby neering (Vandelinder, 1984), the topic of this work is elec- metallic structures, making stray current-induced corro- trochemical corrosion, specifically stray current-induced sion the most severe form of damage of buried structures, steel corrosion. such as tunnels, pipelines, and various underground rein- Most metals and alloys, when in contact with their forced concrete structures. The objective of this paper is to surrounding medium such as atmosphere or water, tend critically review stray current-induced steel corrosion in to convert to a more thermodynamically stable state by infrastructure with regard to sources of stray current and forming oxides/hydroxides on their surface. This process the characteristics and mechanism of stray current corro- follows chemical and electrochemical reactions with the sion in view of electrochemical aspects. The methods and external environment. In the long term, these interactions techniques for the evaluation, monitoring, and control of or the corrosion process itself would lead to the degra- stray current-induced corrosion for steel and reinforced dation of metals and to the reduction of their functional concrete structures are also presented and discussed. properties. Keywords: electrochemical aspects; steel in infrastruc- Steel corrosion can be and often is the primary cause ture; stray current corrosion. of damage to various types of infrastructure, such as steel bridges, reinforced concrete structures, pipelines, and marine platforms. It is estimated that corrosion destroys one quarter of the world’s annual steel production, which corresponds to about 150 million tons/year or 5 tons/sec (Landolt, 2007). A study in the United States calculated the direct cost of corrosion to be $276 billion, which cor- responds to 3.1% of the U.S. gross domestic product (GDP) *Corresponding author: Zhipei Chen, Department of Materials in 2002 (Koch et al., 2002). and Environment, Faculty of Civil Engineering and Geosciences, Corrosion damage is not always visible to the public Delft University of Technology, Stevinweg 1, 2628 CN, Delft, but nevertheless can lead to structural failure, loss of life, The Netherlands, e-mail: [email protected]; loss of capital investment and environmental damage [email protected]. http://orcid.org/0000-0002-7670-4050 (Koch et al., 2002). Therefore, as more and more aging Dessi Koleva and Klaas van Breugel: Department of Materials and Environment, Faculty of Civil Engineering and Geosciences, infrastructure reaches the end of its designed lifetime, the Delft University of Technology, Stevinweg 1, 2628 CN, Delft, The emphasis in the field of civil engineering today is on main- Netherlands taining and extending the service life of valuable assets. Brought to you by | Bibliotheek TU Delft Authenticated Download Date | 12/11/17 2:40 PM 398 Z. Chen et al.: Stray current-induced corrosion To fulfill this, the control of steel corrosion must be con- destroyed and the uniform corrosion of the steel reinforce- sidered and implemented. ment is at hand. Due to low cost and ease of forming at ambient tem- Chloride ions penetrate into the concrete cover by dif- peratures, reinforced concrete is the most widely used fusing through the pores or through cracks. When chlo- construction material and forms an important part of ride ions reach the surface of the rebar and accumulate infrastructure worldwide. The synergy of both materials to a certain critical value (chloride threshold concentra- (i.e. concrete and steel) provides a combination of high tion), they damage the passive film and localized corro- compressive strength and high tensile properties. There- sion (pitting corrosion) will be induced (Jang & Oh, 2010). fore, reinforced concrete is a composite material of global Irrespective of the factor responsible for corrosion initia- use and serves a variety of applications. Although rein- tion, once the passive film is destroyed, the surface of the forced concrete is considered to be of high durability, it corroding steel will function as a mixed electrode that can suffer from various degradation mechanisms related is a “composite” of anodes (active areas) and cathodes to either concrete or steel. (nonactive areas). The separation of anodic and cathodic The corrosion of steel reinforcement has been iden- areas on the steel surface results in a potential difference tified as the main reason for reduced service life of rein- and triggers oxidation and reduction reactions. During forced concrete structures. With proper construction work the corrosion process, electrons flow from the anodic to and adequate maintenance of a civil structure, steel corro- the cathodic areas, whereas ions flow in the surrounding sion would be theoretically minimum during the overall electrolyte (i.e. a corrosion cell forms). The concrete pore designed service life. However, the penetration of aggres- water functions as the aqueous medium (i.e. it serves as sive substances as well as the combination of environmen- a complex electrolyte). As the corrosion process becomes tal factors and exploitation conditions result in premature stable, the anodic oxidation and cathodic reduction reac- degradation of reinforced concrete structures due to steel tions will reach equilibrium (i.e. the potential of steel corrosion. The results are structural failure and enhanced reaches equilibrium at the corrosion potential, Ecorr), at health and safety risks. which point the net exchange current is zero. The corro- Steel reinforcement in reinforced concrete is normally sion cell that forms on a rebar surface is shown in Figure 1. in a thermodynamically stable state. Steel passivity is due The anodic reaction, or the oxidation process, results to the high alkalinity of the concrete matrix and concrete in the dissolution or loss of metal, whereas the cathodic pore water, respectively (pH of 12.5–12.9). Additionally, reaction for reinforced concrete is mainly the reduction of concrete acts as a physical barrier: well-consolidated dissolved oxygen, forming hydroxyl ions. For steel embed- and properly cured concrete with an optimum water-to- ded in concrete, the following are the most probable cement (w/c) ratio has a low permeability and acts as a anodic reactions (Ahmad, 2003): barrier against the penetration of corrosion-inducing 2+− Fe →+Fe 2e (1) substances, such as chloride ions or carbon dioxide (CO ; Ahmad, 2003). The high electrical resistivity of the 2 2Fe3+→HO Fe O+6H+−+6e concrete matrix, through blocked or disconnected pore 223 (2) pathways, impedes the steel corrosion rate by simply Fe +→2H OHFeO+−+3H