Many reinforced concrete structures suffer from corrosion damage. Causes include salt ingress due to the application of de-icing salts during winter maintenance, exposure to marine environments and carbonation of the concrete. Corrosion is an electrochemical process and as such the use of electrochemical technology treatments has been very popular. Traditional treatments such as Impressed Current Cathodic Protection (ICCP) require the passage of a constant current through the concrete to arrest corrosion activity and hinder its future development. However, for prestressed reinforcement there are risks of hydrogen embrittlement of the steel if the applied polarisation is not strictly controlled.
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