REPAIR GUIDANCE NOTE

This is one of a series of notes prepared by the Joint Liaison Committee of The Concrete Society, Institute of Corrosion and Corrosion Prevention Association.

Repair Guidance Note 1:

Corrosion of steel in concrete

This is the rst in a series of Repair Guidance Notes to BS EN 1504, Products and systems for the protection and repair of concrete structures Denitions, requirements, quality control and evaluation of conformity. It is planned that these articles will be published in CONCRETE on a regular basis and will, in due course, be compiled into a Concrete Society Technical Report.
JOHN P BROOMFIELD, BROOMFIELD CONSULTANTS AND CHRIS ATKINS, MOTT MACDONALD

interpreted, and the repair options fully evaluated to ensure that the right repair option is selected for the building and its owner. This is discussed in Section 5 of BS EN 1504 Part 9(1).

Corrosion of steel in concrete by carbonation and chlorides

There are two major mechanisms for the acceleration of corrosion of steel in concrete that do not require the degradation of the concrete before the steel is attacked, although any degradation such as cracking is likely to further exacerbate the problem. The rst of these is carbonation and the second is chloride contamination. Carbonation Reinforcement corrosion is prevented by the alkali content of the concrete. During the hydration process calcium, sodium and potassium hydroxides are formed, which dissolve in the pore water of the concrete to form a very alkaline solution of approximate pH 1213.5. At this level, steel forms a very thin, protective oxide known as a passive layer. This is a durable lm that is far better than synthetic or metallic coatings that deteriorate or are consumed. The passive layer will also sustain and maintain itself indenitely as long as the concrete stays highly alkaline and remains free from contamination. Carbonation, however, is inevitable and is caused by the ingress of atmospheric carbon dioxide reacting with the pore water in the concrete cover to form carbonic acid, which neutralises the alkalinity in the concrete. This occurs progressively, and a carbonation front moves through the concrete until it reaches the steel. The passive layer then breaks down as the pH falls from over 12 to approximately 8. Corrosion can start in the presence of oxygen and water as the pH falls below 11. The carbonation front moves approximately according to the following parabolic relationship: Carbonation depth = Constant Square root of time A typical Portland cement concrete may show a carbonation depth of 58mm after ten years, rising to 1015mm after 50 years(2). Therefore, structures with low concrete cover over the reinforcing steel will show carbonationinduced corrosion more quickly than those with good cover. A method for determination of carbonation depth is given in BS EN 14630(3). The rate of decay of reinforcing steel in concrete is also affected by the concrete quality. Concretes made with a high water:cement ratio and with a low cementitious content will carbonate more quickly than well-specied concretes because they are more porous and have lower reserves of alkali to resist the neutralisation process. For concretes with pulverised-fuel ash, ground-granulated blast-furnace slag or other cement replacement materials, the drop of alkaline reserves is usually balanced by the increase in concrete quality for an equivalent Portland cement, except at high replacement levels in dry conditions(2). The rate of carbonation is also affected by environmental conditions. Carbonation is more rapid in fairly dry and wet/dry cycling environments. It may therefore occur more rapidly in bathrooms and kitchens in blocks of ats, and in multi-storey car parks where the carbon dioxide levels are high due to exhaust fumes. CONCRETE MAY 2007

he aim of these Notes is to guide consultants and contractors through the application of BS EN 1504(1) and other related concrete repair Standards for the evaluation, design, specication and concrete repair process. The Notes will help ensure that appropriate materials are correctly specied and applied. The development of the guidance material has been undertaken by members of the Joint Liaison Committee of The Concrete Society, Institute of Corrosion and Corrosion Prevention Association.

Background
There are a number of causes of deterioration in concrete buildings and structures. Even when they are adequately built, properly used and well-maintained, the environment will affect a structure and components will degrade or wear out. The largest single cause of deterioration in reinforcedconcrete structures is corrosion of the reinforcing steel. Consequently, corrosion is the subject of this rst Repair Guidance Note. In addition, there are a number of deterioration processes that attack the concrete directly, some from processes within, such as alkali-silica reaction, and some from external sources, such as freeze/thaw damage. Some are related to initial construction problems while others are due to subsequent use or lack of maintenance of the structure. These will be discussed in Repair Guidance Note 2. This Note summarises the major causes of corrosionrelated defects, damage and decay in concrete buildings and structures. Any attempt to remedy problems must start with a thorough understanding of the cause and extent of the deterioration. It is essential that a detailed investigation is carried out as part of the appraisal process, the results are

Figure 1: The corrosion mechanism for steel in concrete.

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REPAIR GUIDANCE NOTE

Repairs are formulated according to approaches based on BS EN 1504 Part 9 Principle 7, Preserving or restoring passivity, which includes electrochemical realkalisation BS EN/TS 14038-1(4). Additional approaches might be Principle 8, Increasing resistivity or Principle 10, Cathodic protection (covered in BS EN 12696(5)). There will also be a requirement for Principle 3 on concrete restoration. Chloride attack The second major cause of reinforcement corrosion is chloride contamination. This is usually due to one of the following causes: de-icing salt ingress from roads and vehicles sea-salt ingress in marine environments cast-in salt from contaminated mix components cast-in calcium chloride as a set accelerator. A threshold level of chloride is needed for corrosion to occur. This can range from approximately 0.11.0% chloride by mass of cement, but the most commonly used thresholds are 0.3% (used by the Highways Agency) or 0.4% found in much of the European literature. Once the chloride level at the reinforcement exceeds 0.4% by weight of cement (approximately 0.06% or 600ppm by weight of sample assuming 15% cement content), there is a signicant risk of corrosion, especially in the presence of moisture. Obviously, if cast-in chlorides exceed 0.4%, then the corrosion risk rises(2). There are also issues of the degree of binding chemical of the chloride with some literature saying it should be taken into account and others saying it is ultimately irrelevant(6). A test method for determination of the chloride content of hardened concrete is given in the draft EN 14629(7). As with carbonation, chloride-ingress rates are a function of concrete quality and environment. For concrete with low reinforcement cover, and particularly for poor-quality concrete, chlorides can be transported rapidly by wetting and drying absorption and by capillary action on the chloride-laden water into the concrete. The water then evaporates and leaves the salt behind. In good-quality concrete with good cover to the reinforcement and little cracking, diffusion processes predominate. Repairs are formulated according to approaches based on ENV 1504 Part 9, Principle 7, Preserving or restoring passivity, which includes electrochemical chloride extraction. Additional approaches might be Principle 8, Increasing resistivity and Principle 10, Cathodic protection (covered in BS EN 12696(4)). There will also be a requirement for Principle 3 on concrete restoration.

The aim of these Notes is to guide consultants and contractors through the application of BS EN 1504 and other related concrete repair Standards for the evaluation, design, specication and concrete repair process. The Notes will help ensure that appropriate materials are correctly specied and applied.

ence of carbon dioxide or chloride ions. As can be seen in the diagram, the cathodic reaction requires water and oxygen. The initial anodic reaction does not require any reactants until the iron has become soluble ferrous ions that can then react with hydroxyl ions (the alkalinity in the concrete), and then with oxygen and water to create the solid rust whose volume increase will crack and spall the concrete. The fact that oxygen is not required at the anode is important because the exclusion of oxygen from anodic areas without stiing the cathodic reaction will lead to dissolution of the reinforcement rather than cracking and spalling of the concrete, i.e. the structure is weakened without there being evidence of deterioration. This can happen in local saturation conditions where the concrete is very wet and therefore conductive enough to allow good separation between anodes and cathodes. This process is known as differential aeration where the electrons are used to form H+ ions at the cathode that are free to react with chloride to form hydrochloric acid within, for example pits and crevices on the steel surface. Further oxygen starvation within the pit or crevice leads to enhanced degradation and rapid failure. The ingredients for corrosion are therefore: carbonation or sufcient chloride at reinforcement depth to depassivate the steel oxygen to fuel the cathodic reaction and to create the expansive oxide water to fuel the cathodic reaction and to create the expansive oxide concrete of low enough resistivity to allow the electrochemical anode and cathode reactions to proceed. These ingredients, along with the electrical/electrochemical nature of the reactions, can therefore be used to assess the corrosion condition. Methods for corrosion assessment of reinforced concrete are given in Concrete I Society Technical Report 60(8).

References:
1. BRITISH STANDARDS INSTITUTION, BS EN 1504. Products and systems for the repair and protection of concrete structures Denitions, requirements, quality control and evaluation of conformity, Part 1: Denitions, Part 2: Surface protection systems for concrete, Part 3: Structural and nonstructural repair, Part 4: Structural bonding, Part 5: Concrete injection, Part 6: Grouting to anchor reinforcement or to ll external voids, Part 7: Reinforcement corrosion protection, Part 8: Quality control and evaluation of conformity, Part 9: General principles for the use of products and systems. Draft. 2. BUILDING RESEARCH ESTABLISHMENT. Digest 444. Corrosion of steel in concrete, Part 1: Durability of reinforced concrete structures, Part 2: Investigation and assessment, Part 3: Protection and remediation, 2000. 3. BRITISH STANDARDS INSTITUTION. BS EN 14630. Products and systems for the protection and repair of concrete structures. Test methods. Determination of carbonation depth in hardened concrete by the phenolphthalein method, 2006 4. BRITISH STANDARDS INSTITUTION. BS EN TS 14038. Electrochemical realkalization and chloride extraction treatments for reinforced concrete, Part 1: Realkalization. Draft. 5. BRITISH STANDARDS INSTITUTION. BS EN 12696. Cathodic protection of steel in concrete. 2000. 6. BROOMFIELD, J.P. Corrosion of steel in concrete: understanding, investigation and repair. 2nd Edition, Taylor and Francis, London, 2007. 7. BRITISH STANDARDS INSTITUTION. BS EN 14629. Products and systems for the protection and repair of concrete structures Test Methods Determination of chloride content in hardened concrete. Draft. 8. THE CONCRETE SOCIETY. Electrochemical tests for reinforcement corrosion, Technical Report 60, Camberley, 2004.

The corrosion process

Regardless of the cause of corrosion, once the steels passive layer protection is lost, corrosion proceeds by the mechanism illustrated in Figure 1 (page 13). Oxidation (corrosion) of steel is a natural process that requires the reaction at the anode and the reaction at the cathode occurring in balance. Corrosion of steel in concrete is an electrochemical reaction in which the major constituent of steel (iron) goes into solution as positively charged iron ions, releasing electrons (electrical ow). This site is called the anode and hosts the oxidation process. The electrons ow through the reinforcement towards sites on the steel surface where they react with oxygen and water from outside to produce additional hydroxyl ions. These sites are called cathodes and host the reduction process. In a passive (high alkaline) environment this reductionoxidation (redox) reaction is desired in order to sustain and maintain the passive layer. However, if depassivation occurs rapid corrosion can begin, accelerated by the pres14
MAY 2007 CONCRETE