Corrosion testing of low alloy steel reinforcement
Recent results indicate that some low alloy steels under certain conditions behave significantly better than ordinarily used black steel reinforcement. After thorough research of the steel reinforcement available on the market, different types of low alloy corrosion resistant reinforcement have been chosen for corrosion testing. The aim of this research is to evaluate the utilization of low alloy corrosion resistant steel as reinforcement in concrete when the structure is exposed to aggressive environment, such as chloride contamination and carbonation. During the research two types of low Nickel steel types will be tested and their corrosion resistances will be compared to stainless steel grades 1.4301, 1.4306 and duplex steel grades 1.4362 and 1.4462. Steel rebars are tested in chloride contaminated and carbonated pore solutions using Electrochemical Impedance Spectroscopy (EIS) and anodic polarisation, simulating concrete environment with lower pH value and high chloride contamination. In this paper results of up-to-now performed testing are presented.