Passivation process quality in reinforced concrete: effects of polarization periodicity and passivation consolidation parameters on data processing

Abstract

The passivation process quality was studied considering polarization periodicity, passivation consolidation parameters, and data processing. Passivation process quality in steel reinforcement affects a structure’s planned future service life. Some research has addressed this phenomenon, but its study is complicated by the limits of analog-era data, dispersion in corrosion rate data, and their interpretation. Two series of small reinforced concrete specimens were built using two water/cement ratios and two curing/storage combinations and exposed to the marine environment. Polarization periodicity did not affect passivation/depassivation during passivation but on the data processing. The curing and storage process influenced the tendency towards depassivation. Post-curing storage type affected the cumulative corrosion rate from 1 to 5 μA*day/cm2; this is equivalent to the margin of uncertainty in interpretation.