Corrosion Quantification of Reinforcing Bar in Concrete Using Micro Computer Tomography

Micro-CT 활용 콘크리트 내 철근 부식 정량을 위한 실험적 연구

Corrosion of rebars in reinforced concrete structures is a major factor that shortens the life of the structure. As corrosion progresses, the adhesion between the concrete tissues and the rebar decreases and the cracks in the concrete due to the expansion of the oxide intensify. Although it is necessary to measure corrosion behavior of rebars inside the concrete to measure degradation of structures due to rebar corrosion, no studies have been conducted to measure corrosion of rebars in In-situ state. In this study, corrosion of rebars in reinforced concrete specimens was attempted to be quantified using micro-computer tomography. Since corrosion of concrete takes several months per 10mm of cover, accelerated corrosion techniques were applied. Accelerated corrosion on the specimen was conducted by applying a 10 V magnetic field to the buried rebar and external electrodes with the specimen submerged in a 10% calcium chloride solution. The experiment found that within two weeks, more than 40% of rebar reduction occurred, and the cracks in the radial cracks occurred through the concrete structure, leading to the transfer of the oxide produced through the cracks to the surface of the specimen.