Chloride Levels That Initiated Corrosion of Duplex Stainless Steel Embedded in Mortar

摘要

Chloride-induced corrosion of carbon steel has been widely recognized as one of the main causes of premature failure on the reinforced concrete structures. Various strategies and measures such as employing stainless steel reinforcements have been developed to address this problem. Past studies have been concerned with the identification and characterization of chloride threshold since corrosion would not initiate as long as the chloride concentration values at the reinforcing stainless steel depth remains below this threshold value. It is therefore a critical parameter for the design of new stainless steel reinforced concrete structures and the assessment of existing concrete structures. This study presents the finding on the chloride threshold of stainless steel UNS32304 embedded in mortar with two different mixes. Reinforced mortar specimens were subjected to ponding exposure and wet/dry cycle exposure with a sodium chloride solution. The specimens were monitored by using the measurements of the open circuit potential, electrochemical impedance spectroscopy, and linear polarization resistance. The paper also discusses the chloride threshold values of such stainless steel embedded in mortar and concrete with other mixes reported by other researchers and the factors that may affect these values.