Effect of Surface Applied Inhibitor on Corrosion Rate of Steel Bar in High Strength Concrete with Various Admixed Chlorides

Effect of surface applied inhibitor on the durability of high strength reinforced concrete with various chloride content has been investigated in this paper. The C60 concrete specimens contaminated with 0.5%,1.0%,1.5% NaCl by mass of the cementitious materials were prepared and experienced in months exposure tests after painting with 400 g/m2 inhibitor. The electrochemical impedance spectroscopy (EIS), linear polarization resistance (LPR) of the steel rebar in specimens was tested. The results indicate that after surface painting the inhibitor for 28d the bars in concrete specimens with 0.5% NaCl and bar with 25mm cover in specimen with 1% NaCl show the average corrosion rate lower than that of control one (No.0, no painted inhibitor). While the corrosion current of rebar (38mm cover) for No.2 specimen with 1% NaCl and bars for No.3 specimen with 1.5% NaCl are still higher than that of the control one (No.0). The results indicate that the surface painted inhibitor on C60 concrete are effective to inhibit the corrosion of bar concrete at low or middle chloride conditions and not enough to repair the bars in high chloride contaminated concrete. The lower organic nitrogen content in 40-50mm depth also indicates that the inhibitor is harder to penetrate into deeper parts of high strength concrete compared with low or middle grade concrete.