Effects of Bleeding on the Corrosion of Horizontal Steel Bars in Reinforced Concrete Column Specimens

Abstract

The durability of reinforced concrete has proven to be predominantly influenced by its resistance against the ingress of harmful substances such as chloride ions, carbon dioxide and moisture. The corrosion of steel bars which occurs especially in marine environments is likely to be severe, depending on the availability of oxygen and the moisture consumed by cathodic reactions. This study aims to investigate the effects of bleeding on the corrosion of horizontal steel bars placed in reinforced concrete column specimens. The issue was examined through electro-chemical tests, including half-cell potential, polarization resistance and corrosion current density, conducted using specimens in which corrosion was induced via dry and wet (NaCl 10%) cycles. The presence or absence of copper slag fine aggregate and fly ash replacement was employed as an experimental parameter. The results suggest that the corrosion of horizontal steel bars in the upper part of the column concrete specimens was adversely affected, even in the case of OPC specimens with relatively lower bleeding water. This was attributed to lower resistance against the ingress of corrosive substances, especially in such locations. In the case of fly ash mixtures, resistance to corrosion was significantly improved owing to lower oxygen permeability of less than 1.0×10-11mol/cm²/sec, measured via the cathodic polarization technique. The replacement of fly ash is effective in facilitating more uniform quality in the column specimens due to a lower level of bleeding water and higher resistance to segregation and pozzolanic reactions.

Keywords

• Bleeding
• Chlorides
• Corrosion
• Horizontal steel bar
• Oxygen permeability