Steel reinforcement corrosion in alkali-activated fly ash mortars

Corrosion of steel rebars in concrete presents one of the main deterioration mechanisms limiting service life of the reinforced structures. The corrosion is accompanied by an expansion of the corrosion products causing high pressures, concrete cracking and finally spalling of a cover layer. Critical chloride concentration, loss of alkalinity and modeling of the steel corrosion are in researchers\u27 spotlight for decades, however reinforcement corrosion in alkali activated materials is insufficiently described and understood yet. In this work, the steel reinforcement corrosion in alkali-activated fly ash mortars is investigated in terms of electrochemical behaviour of the reinforced mortars exposed to aggressive environments such as leaching, carbonation and chloride ingress. A selected geopolymer mixture based on hard coal fly ash activated with sodium hydroxide and sodium silicate solutions is used for the steel reinforcement-corrosion experiments. The formation of passive layer on the steel rebars is observed after approx. two weeks of hardening at laboratory temperature. However, alternative heat-treatment at 80°C for several hours leads to immediate formation of the passive layer as well as to a faster strength gain (80 MPa after 24h at 80°C). Chloride-induced corrosion, leaching and carbonation resistance of the alkali activated fly ash-based concrete is studied, where leaching in deionized water or carbonation under natural conditions (~0.04 % CO2) for 300 days did not lead to corrosion of the embedded steel. On the other hand, accelerated carbonation under 100 % CO2 atmosphere lead to depassivation within two weeks. Please click Additional Files below to see the full abstract

Distinct nonequilibrium plasma chemistry of C2 affecting the synthesis of nanodiamond thin films from C2H2 (1%)/H2/Ar-rich plasmas

6 pages, 5 figures, 6 tables.We show that the concentrations of the species C2 (X 1Σg+), C2 (a 3Πu), and C2H exhibit a significant increase when the argon content grows up to 95% in medium pressure (0.75 Torr) radio frequency (rf) (13.56 MHz) produced C2H2 (1%)/H2/Ar plasmas of interest for the synthesis of nanodiamond thin films within plasma enhanced chemical vapor deposition devices. In contrast, the concentrations of CH3 and C2H2 remain practically constant. The latter results have been obtained with an improved quasianalytic space–time-averaged kinetic model that, in addition, has allowed us to identify and quantify the relative importance of the different underlying mechanisms driving the nonequilibrium plasma chemistry of C2. The results presented here are in agreement with recent experimental results from rf CH4/H2/Ar-rich plasmas and suggest that the growth of nanodiamond thin films from hydrocarbon/Ar-rich plasmas is very sensitive to the contribution of C2 and C2H species from the plasma.This work was partially funded by CICYT (Spain) under a Ramón y Cajal project and under Project No. TIC2002- 03235. One of the authors (F.J.G.V.) acknowledges a Ramón y Cajal contract from the Spanish Ministry of Science and Technology (MCYT). One of the authors (J.M.A.) acknowledges partial support from CICYT (Spain) under Project No. MAT 2002-04085-C02-02.Peer reviewe

Detection of Reinforcement Corrosion in Reinforced Concrete Structures by Potential Mapping: Theory and Practice

Electrochemical potential mapping according to guideline B3 of DGZfP (German Society for Nondestructive Testing) is a recognized technique for the localization of corroding reinforcing steels. In reinforced concrete structures the measured potentials are not necessarily directly linked to the corrosion likelihood of the reinforcing steel. The measured values may be significantly affected, different from, e.g., stress measurement, by different influences on the potential formation at the phase boundary metal/concrete itself as well as the acquisition procedure. Due to the complexity of influencing factors there is a risk that the results are misinterpreted. Therefore, in a training concept firstly the theoretical basics of the test method should be imparted. Then, frequently occurring practical situations of various influencing factors will be made accessible to the participants by a model object specially designed for this purpose. The aim is to impart profound knowledge concerning the characteristics of potential mapping for detecting corrosion of reinforcing steel in order to apply this technique in practice as reliable and economical test method

Leaching, carbonation and chloride ingress in reinforced alkali-activated fly ash mortars

Alkali-activated fly ash mortars were studied with regard to durability-relevant transport coefficients and the electrochemical behaviour of embedded carbon steel bars on exposure of the mortars to leaching, carbonation and chloride penetration environments. The transport coefficients differed considerably between different formulations, being lowest for a mortar with BFS addition, but still acceptable for one of the purely fly ash-based mortars. Leaching over a period of ~300 days in de-ionized water did not lead to observable corrosion of the embedded steel, as shown by the electrochemical data and visual inspection of the steel. Exposure to 100 % CO2 atmosphere caused steel depassivation within approx. two weeks; in addition, indications of a deterioration of the mortar were observed. The results are discussed in the context of the different reaction products expected in highand low-Ca alkali-activated binders, and the alterations caused by leaching and carbonation