Corrosion Behaviour of a New Low-Nickel Stainless Steel Reinforcement: A Study in Simulated Pore Solutions and in Fly Ash Mortars

Abstract

The present paper studies the corrosion behaviour of a new lower-cost type of austenitic stainless steel (SS) with a low nickel content in alkaline-saturated calcium hydroxide solution (a simulated concrete pore (SCP) solution) with sodium chloride (0.0%, 0.4%, 1.0%, 2.0%, 3.0%, and 5.0% NaCl) and embedded in alkali-activated fly ash (AAFA) mortars manufactured using two alkaline solutions, with and without chloride additions (2% and 5%), in an environment of constant 95% relative humidity. Measurements were performed at early age curing up to 180 days of experimentation. The evolution with time of electrochemical impedance spectroscopy was studied. Rct values obtained in SCP solution or in fly ash mortars were so high that low-nickel SS preserved its passivity, exhibiting high corrosion resistance