Mathematical relation of steel thickness loss with time related to reinforced concrete contaminated by chlorides

•Intensive and long term experimental program on corrosion of reinforced concrete in its propagation phase.•Controlled and outdoor environmental conditions.•Database for further numerical studies.•Mathematical relation of cumulative steel thickness loss with time.•Reliability in simulating/predicting the corrosion of reinforced concrete and its durability. Corrosion of chloride contaminated reinforced concretes exposed to outdoor conditions and to six controlled environmental conditions was followed within a five year study. Corrosion was evaluated four times a year performing visual observations (rust, cracks, delamination) and electrochemical measurements from which corrosion rates were calculated. These latter values were converted in cumulative steel thickness loss versus cumulative time in order to propose a mathematical relation for simulating corrosion in the propagation phase. It was found that a mathematical power relation fitted the experimental data better than a linear relation.