Recommendations of RILEM TC 154-EMC: Electrochemical techniques for measuring metallic corrosion Half-cell potential measurements - Potential mapping on reinforced concrete structures

Title: Recommendations of RILEM TC 154-EMC: Electrochemical techniques for measuring metallic corrosion
Half-cell potential measurements - Potential mapping on reinforced concrete structures
Author(s): RILEM TC 154-EMC
Paper category : journal
Serial title: Materials and Structures
Abreviated Serial title: Mater. Struct.
ISSN: 1359-5997
Publisher: RILEM Publications SARL
Volume: 36
Issue: 261
Issue date: 2003-08-01
Publication year: 2003
Pages: 461 - 471
Total Pages: 11
Nb references: 22
Language: English

Corrosion of steel in concrete is one of the major
problems with respect to the durability of reinforced
concrete structures. The majority of concrete structures
perform well even after a long period of use in normal
environments. However, there are various reinforced
concrete structures important for our infrastructure,
especially bridges and buildings, which exhibit premature
damage due to environmental actions (EN 206). In contrast
to mechanical actions (as load, wind, etc.) the
environmental actions are not reversible and accumulate
hazardous components (as e.g. chloride ions) in the
concrete. A high percentage of the damages is caused by
insufficient planning, wrong estimation of the severity of
environmental actions and by bad workmanship and thus
many of these structures need to be repaired after a short
service life. In most industrial countries, repair and
restoration of reinforced concrete structures today is nearly
as important as new constructions.
Due to the importance of the problem, RILEM set up an
initial committee on reinforcing steel corrosion in 1960. A
second committee related to the problem, TC 60-CSC
‘Corrosion of Steel in Concrete’, was established in 1980,
presenting a state-of-the-art report in 1988 on the generally
agreed knowledge about the processes causing corrosion
and the corrosion mechanism themselves. RILEM TC-124
on Strategies for the Repair of Concrete Structures
Damaged by Steel Corrosion published a draft
recommendation in 1994, where the importance of
condition assessment has been pointed out as the first step
in the repair process. To ensure a sound decision on the
type of repair work, it is essential to get first of all a
thorough assessment of the condition of the structure,
including the evaluation of:
- cause of damage or loss of protection
- degree and amount of damage
- expected progress of damage with time
- effect of damage on structural behaviour and
serviceability.
The acquisition of reliable information on level and rate
of deterioration is done during regular main inspections
relying on visual examination of the whole structure. If no
reliable conclusion on the state of the structure or part of it
can be obtained, an additional inspection (verification)
including non-destructive testing has to be performed until
the cause of damage is clearly identified.
Following the work of TC-124, RILEM set up a
Technical Committee 154-EMC on Electrochemical
Techniques for Measuring Corrosion of steel in concrete.
During the first meeting of the committee it was decided to
prepare RILEM Technical Recommendations on
- Half cell potential measurements
- Test methods for on-site corrosion rate measurements
of reinforcement by means of the polarization
resistance
- Test methods for on-site measurement of resistivity of
concrete
- Embedded Probes for Corrosion monitoring
These documents are presently prepared for publication.
This Draft RILEM Technical Recommendation on Half-Cell
potential measurements intends to give a general description
of half-cell potential measurements for assessing the
corrosion risk of an existing structure (inspection), for
locating precisely corroding rebars prior to and during repair
work and for evaluateing the effectiveness and durability of
the repair work. Special attention will be paid to factors
influencing potential measurements and to the interpretation
of potential readings.

Online publication: 2003-06-27
Classification: RILEM Technical Committees
Publication type : full_text
Public price (Euros): 0.00
doi: 10.1617/13718