Effectiveness of High-Performance Concrete in Resisting Chloride Ion Penetration and Reinforcement Corrosion

Jonsson, J. A., Olek, J., Leeman, M. E., and Belew, Y. K., 2003, “Effectiveness of High-Performance Concrete in Resisting Chloride Ion Penetration and Reinforcement Corrosion,” 3rd International Symposium on High Performance Concrete, Proceedings of Symposium in Orlando, Florida, October 19-22, 2003, Precast/Prestressed Concrete Institute, Chicago, CD-ROM, 16 pp.

ABSTRACT
Premature deterioration of concrete bridges in the United States has been identified as a major problem with respect to cost of repair and rehabilitation. Most often, chloride ion penetration and subsequent corrosion of the reinforcement is the cause. Many studies have been conducted to develop concrete mixtures that will better protect the reinforcement from corroding. However, due to variability in concrete materials from one location to another, a universal solution cannot be developed. Unique approaches, each intended for a particular geographical area, are therefore needed to ensure full compatibility between locally available materials. As a part of Indiana's high-performance concrete (HPC) bridge project, specimens from three HPC concrete mixtures and one conventional mixture were prepared and tested. The focus of the testing was to compare the ability of the four different mixtures to resist chloride ion penetration and reinforcement corrosion. Three sets of corrosion specimens were prepared from each mixture and the effective chloride ion diffusion coefficient was determined by two different test methods. These methods were chloride ponding and electrical indication of concrete's ability to resist chloride ion penetration. Correlation between results from the two test methods used to access concrete's ability to resist chloride ion ingress was good. The results presented in this paper include one-year corrosion data.

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