Title: Accelerated Chloride Threshold Testing: Part I-ASTM A 615 and A 706 Reinforcement

Author(s): David Trejo and Radhakrishna G. Pillai

Publication: Materials Journal

Volume: 100

Issue: 6

Appears on pages(s): 519-527

Keywords: acceleration; corrosion; gradient

DOI: 10.14359/12959

Date: 11/1/2003

Abstract:
To evaluate the service-life and life-cycle costs of reinforced concrete structures susceptible to corrosion, quantitative measures of key material properties and parameters must be known. For chloride-induced corrosion, key material properties include the transport rate of the chloride ions (such as diffusivity and sorptivity) in the cementitious material and the critical chloride threshold level of the steel reinforcement in the cementitious material. Critical chloride threshold values for conventional steel reinforcement types have been reported throughout the literature, but no standardized short-term method for evaluating this parameter is currently available. Thus, this paper presents a new methodology for evaluating the critical chloride threshold of steel reinforcement in concrete. Results from tests conducted using the proposed methodology with conventional steel reinforcement embedded in mortar indicate that the method provides a relatively good estimate of the critical chloride threshold level over a relatively short test period.