Abstracts Book - IMRC 2018

• SE4-O023
STUDY OF THE EFFECT OF RESISTIVITY IN THE CORROSION
PROCESS OF REINFORCING STEEL EMBEDDED IN MORTAR AND
CONCRETE
Jesús David Sáenz López 1 , Tezozomoc Pérez López 1 , Víctor Manuel Moo Yam 1
1 Universidad Autónoma de Campeche, Centro de Investigación en Corrosión, Mexico.
The steel embedded in concrete is protected against corrosion thanks to the
alkaline character of the solution contained in the pores. However, the presence
of chloride ions and other factors can destroy this protective layer causing active
corrosion of the steel. The resistivity of concrete has been considered as one of
the factors that affect the corrosion rate of the reinforcements and has been
studied by various authors, although until now, the only relationship found has
been established between the resistivity of the concrete and the potential for
steel embedded in concrete contaminated by chlorides. The electrical resistivity
as inverse of the conductivity is a property of the concrete that allows its
evaluation in a non-destructive way and therefore, accessible to the autocontrol.
The resistivity is an indicator of the setting, of the mechanical resistance, of the
degree of saturation of the pores of the concrete; therefore, the degree of curing
and the impermeability or resistance to the entry of aggressive substances into
it. It has a direct relationship with the durability and the corrosion rate when
indicating the degree of humidity of the concrete. The present work aims to
determine the correlation of the resistivity with the corrosion process of
reinforcing rods embedded in mortar and reinforced concrete structures. The
values were determined by using various electrochemical and resistive
techniques with the equipment: Nilsson Resistometer, Gcorr-6, virtual
instrumentation prototype (PIV) and Versa STAT 4 Potentiostat; in order to
determine if registering and comparing only resistivity data with electrochemical
results, there is some relationship to estimate the corrosion conditions of the
reinforcing rods, the preliminary results show a tendency based on the
characteristics of the cement paste as well as function of the corrosion condition
of the reinforcing rods.
Keywords: electrical resistivity, reinforced concrete, corrosion
Presenting authors email: jesusdavidsaenzlopez@gmail.com