Probability of Galvanic Corrosion of Cr-bearing Rebars in Concrete

Chloride-laden and carbonated environments were selected for the investigation of corrosion acceleration due to galvanic corrosion of normal rebars in contact with corrosion-resistant Cr-bearing rebars embedded in concrete. Concrete specimens simulating these environments were fabricated using normal steel (SD345) rebars in contact with Cr-bearing rebars and subjected to corrosion-accelerating curing with high temperature/high humidity and low temperature/low humidity cycles. The half-cell potential, corrosion area, and corrosion loss of the normal steel rebars were measured at the specified test ages. No corrosion acceleration due to galvanic corrosion was observed on SD345 rebars in contact with Cr-bearing rebars in chloride-laden and carbonated concretes, suggesting the possibility of the selective use of Cr-bearing rebars for newly built structures only where necessary and their use as a repair material for patching.This work is part of a study supported by HE Steel Corporation. It is also supported by the Sustainable Building Research Center of Hanyang University, which was supported by the SRC/ERC program of MEST (Grant # R11-2005-056-01003-0)