Corrosion Resistance of Steel Reinforcement in Fly Ash Concrete Under Chloride Penetration
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Corrosion Resistance of Steel Reinforcement in Fly Ash Concrete under Chloride Penetration Idrees ZAFAR Candidate for the Degree of Philosophy in Engineering Supervisor: Prof. Takafumi Sugiyama Division: Field Engineering for the Environment Introduction requires the durability aspect of the concrete to be verified. In this regard the current research was done to investigate Japan is generating more than 10 million tons of coal ash the performance of fly ash concrete against the corrosion as a by-product from coal fired thermal power plants due to chloride attack during the initiation as well as every year [1]. The quantity of coal ash produced is propagation period. estimated to increase due to the construction of new coal fired power plants to meet the power generation demands. Experimental Methodology Although, fly ash is already being used in many sectors like cement production, road construction, foundation Materials and Specimen Preparation improvements, back-filling and as a fertilizer for agriculture, forestry and fishery sector [2]. In addition to Two sets of fly ash concrete were prepared each for the that fly ash is also used in the construction sector as an initiation and propagation period. The water to cement artificial light-weight aggregate. However, to cope with ratio was kept constant as 0.5 for all the specimens. The the anticipated increase in the generation of coal ash in the detailed mix proportions for all the specimens are shown future, the effective utilization of fly ash needs to be in Table 2. The coarse aggregate used was crushed stone increased for each for the above mentioned sectors. with a maximum size of 13 mm. The absorption and Among several methodologies that are being developed specific gravity of coarse aggregate were 1.62% and 2.64 for effective use of fly ash, the use as an admixture for g/cm³ respectively. The target slump and target air content concrete is considered the most effective one from the was 12 ±1.5 cm and 5 ± 0.5 % respectively. The detailed view point of consuming a large amount of fly ash and of methodology of the specimen preparation and specimen reducing the environmental impact by lowering the configuration are already discussed elsewhere [4]. Three amount of CO2 emission. different series i.e. F30P, F30PL and F30ZL were prepared JIS A 6201 is the standard which details the use of fly ash for both the initiation period and propagation period. F30P for concrete in Japan. According to the latest modification and F30PL for initiation period while F30ZL for in JIS A 6201 (1999), fly ash is categorized into four types propagation period. For the comparison purpose, N2P, named as Type I, Type II, Type III and Type IV [3]. Among F30D and F30DL for initiation while N2Z and F30Z for these Type II is recommended for the use in concrete as an propagation will be used from the already published admixture. researches by the author [4 & 5]. The increase in the use of fly ash in concrete is important Each fly ash concrete series consisted of five specimens. from the view point of the reduction in environmental The embedded lead-lead oxide electrode (Pb/PbO₂) was impact but for the practical implementation in the field it Table 1. Mix Proportions of Concrete Unit weight (kg/m3) Period Type FA/(C+FA)* s/a** Compressive Strength W C FA S G 28 days 91 days (%) (%) Initiation F30P 30 45 145 203 87 852 1037 29.5 39.7 Propagation F30Z 30 43 170 238 102 759 995 27.3 35.6 *: Fly ash replacement ratio, ** :Sand to aggregate ratio placed in the F30P and F30PL specimens for the detection chloride ion concentration in each sliced layer of the of corrosion initiation of rebars in the concrete specimens. concrete [7]. A nonlinear regression analysis was done to Plains rebars were used for specimens of initiation period fit the experimental chloride profile with the solution of while deformed rebars were used for propagation period. the Fick’s 2nd law. The surface chloride ion concentration The increased water content and deformed rebars were (Co) and diffusion coefficient (Do) were obtained from used for the specimens of propagation period to achieve the fitting curve. The obtained values of Co and Do were the specified degree of corrosion within a certain time then used to evaluate the chloride values at the estimated period. The curing period for F30P was 28 days while corrosion level. F30PL and F30ZL were cured for 91 days. The cover depth for all the series was kept same as 20mm and 25 Surface Corroded Area mm for UP and DO rebar except F30P series, which had an increased cover depth by 10mm. After the completion After certain period of chloride application, when the of specified curing period, a transparent canister, specimens of propagation period had reached the specified dimensioning 50 × 100 mm in cross section, was set on degree of corrosion, the specimen were cut to visually the middle of specimen’s top surface and 10% NaCl observe the nature of corrosion products and quantify the solution was poured in that canister to start the chloride corroded surface area of rebars. Corroded surface area exposure to specimens. was measured followed by the cutting and splitting of ASTM C 876 was used for as a criteria for the detection of corrosion test specimens. An image was produced by corrosion initiation while for propagation period the sketching the outline of the corroded area and later this specified values of polarization resistance corresponding image was scanned. Computer image analysis software to certain levels of corrosion current density (RILEM TC (Image J) was used to quantify the corrosion area. 154 2004) were used to indicate a specific corrosion degree [6]. The application of the salt solution was stopped when the specimens had reached the polarization TEST RESULTS AND DISCUSSION resistance within 52 kohm-cm to 26 kohm-cm. 52 kohm-cm (correspond to 0.5 µA/cm²) and 26 kohm-cm (correspond to 1.0 µA/cm²) represent the moderate and Electrochemical Data high degree of corrosion respectively. The half-cell potential was used to detect the onset of corrosion of rebars in fly ash concrete specimens. The Electrochemical Measurements measured values of half-cell potential with reference to embedded electrode (mV vs Pb/PbO ) and corrosion For the specimens of initiation period the half-cell 2 meter (Ag/AgCl) was standardized to values with potential was continuously monitored by using automatic reference to Copper-Copper Sulphate (mV vs CSE) data logger system [4]. The data logger measured half-cell electrode. The figure 1 and figure 2 show the trend of potential at regular interval of 8 hours with reference to half-cell potential (mV vs CSE) values measured for Pb/PbO₂ electrode embedded in concrete specimens. An F30PL and F30P series, with reference to the embedded AC impedance spectroscope (hereafter called Corrosion electrode and corrosion meter respectively. It was meter) was also used to measure the half-cell potential and observed that after a certain time period of salt impedance data at an interval of about one month. While application, the values of half-cell potential measured by for the specimens of propagation period, the corrosion the embedded electrode drop gradually towards more monitoring was done by using corrosion meter. Corrosion negative value and remain constant within a range of -815 meter was used to measure polarization resistance and ± 15 (mV vs CSE). On the contrary the values of half-cell concrete resistance along with half-cell potential values potential measured by corrosion meter, as shown in figure after every two- week interval. Measurements were made 2, lie well within in the passive zone, indicating no at a location where the saline solution was applied on the corrosion activity at that particular time period of drop top surface of the specimen. shown by embedded electrode. These gradual drops shown by the embedded electrodes are not the actual Chloride Analysis indication of the corrosion initiation. So, for the current research, the specimens which showed this gradual drop Chloride analysis was conducted after the detection of trend, the initiation of corrosion was estimated by the half- corrosion initiation for specimens of initiation period cell potential values measured by corrosion meter. The while for the specimens of propagation period it was temporal gradual increase of half-cell potential drops carried out after a specified criteria for corrosion level was towards more negativity is mainly because of reduced achieved. The entire chloride application zone (50 mm × oxygen supply due to high degree of saturation around the 100 mm) of concrete specimens was used for chloride embedded electrode region. This behavior of exhibiting analysis. The application zone was sliced in more negative values of half-cell potential is common in approximately 7 mm thick layers. Japanese Industrial the submerged concrete structures because of the limited Standard (JIS A1154) was used to determine the total oxygen supply under the water [4]. (a) (a) (b) (b) Figure 1 Trend of half-cell potential for (a) F30PL and (b) Figure 2 Trend of half-cell potential for (a) F30PL and (b) F30P series measured by the embedded electrode F30P series measured by corrosion meter Figure 3 Trend of polarization resistance for F30PL series Figure 4 Trend of specific concrete resistance for F30PL series It can be seen from figure 1 and 2 that only 1 specimen in the polarization resistance. Although there is a slight from F30PL series had shown corrosion initiation while decrease in the polarization resistance values over the time rest 4 specimens have not shown corrosion initiation even but the values even after 5-6 years of chloride exposure after the chloride exposure for 6.5 years.