Analysis of the Repassivation of Corroded Bars in Cementitious Materials Subjected to Realkalisation

Abstract

The effect of concrete realkalinisation on reinforcement repassivation was evaluated by means of electrochemical measurements considering different previous corrosion degrees of reinforcements and different environmental conditions. Reinforcements obtained from a real concrete structure which were activated due to concrete carbonation were used for this purpose. Five different corrosion degrees were considered. All these reinforcements after being classified, were embedded in fresh mortar specimens and were cured in wet chamber for 7 days. After that, they were sequentially subjected to two different environmental conditions; laboratory environment (65% of relative humidity) and 80 % of relative humidity environment. Along all the testing period, reinforcements were monitored on corrosion potential and instantaneous corrosion current density by linear polarisation measurements. Results show that as the previous corrosion degree increases it becomes harder to reach the repassivation condition for reinforcements. This shows that the effectiveness of concrete realkalisation on reinforcement repassivation depends on the previous corrosion degree of reinforcements. The influence of the relative humidity was not significant under the experimental conditions adopted in this work.