Corrosion behavior of reinforcement in slag concrete

Corrosion of reinforcement embedded in concrete causes most of the failures in concrete structures. Ground granulated blast-furnace slag (GGBFS) as partial replacement of cement in concrete improves the properties of fresh and hardened concrete. An attempt is made to investigate the rate and amount of corrosion of steel in concrete made with slag in different proportions. This paper reports a detailed corrosion study carried out on concrete containing GGBFS obtained from some premier steel manufacturing plants in India. A mixture proportioning methodology has been developed for slag concrete to obtain comparable strength with that of the reference concrete. Corrosion of steel has been examined electrochemically and also by an accelerated carbonation study. Results herein reveal that an increase in slag proportion decreases the rate and amount of corrosion of reinforcement in slag concrete