Role of Steel and Cement Type on Chloride-Induced Corrosion in Concrete

This paper reports the findings of a comprehensive experimental investigation where the corrosion performance of different types of steel and cement were studied in different concrete mixtures contaminated with admixed chloride. Three different types of steel, namely cold twisted deformed (CTD) bars and two varieties of thermo-mechanically treated (TMT) bars have been used as steel reinforcement. Three types of cement used in this investigation are ordinary portland cement (OPC), portland pozzolana cement (PPC), and portland slag cement (PSC). Corrosion current density, half-cell potential values, and the relative concrete resistivity have been measured together with free and total chloride concentrations and pH values of the concrete mixtures. From the study, it was concluded that PSC performed best in increasing the corrosion initiation period while PPC performed best in extending the propagation period among the cement types. Similarly, Tempcore TMT steel performed best both in the initiation and propagation period than the other two types of steel. [PUBLICATION ABSTRACT]