Chloride induced reinforcement corrosion in lightweight aggregate high-strength fly ash concrete

Reinforced lightweight aggregate high-strength concrete slabs that incorporated fly ash were exposed to 2% chloride solution for over 15 months. Chloride ion ingress, corrosion potentials, corrosion current density and electrical resistivity were determined. These slabs were compared with slabs from normal weight concrete of medium and high-strength. The results indicated that lightweight high-strength concrete slabs with fly ash in the concrete mixture showed the least amount of chloride concentration. Values of corrosion current density were very low and values of electrical resistivity were very high and indicative of extremely low corrosion current. The dense matrix of the lightweight high-strength concrete is believed to restrict continuous pores that may carry chloride ions. The effect of fly ash in lowering the chloride diffusivity further contributed to reduce harmful chloride ions. In addition, the porous sintered fly ash aggregates are believed to have acted as buffer reservoirs for the chloride laden solution and thus prevented the chloride ions from reaching the steel surface.