Corrosion behaviour of a new low-nickel stainless steel embedded in activated fly ash mortars

The present paper studies the corrosion behaviour of alkali-activated fly ash (AAFA) mortars manufactured using two alkaline solutions, with and without chloride additions (0.4% and 2%) in an environment of constant 95% relative humidity. Measurements were performed at early age curing up to 180 days of experimentation. A new, lower-cost type of austenitic stainless steel (SS) with a low nickel content was studied. Conventional austenitic AISI 304 SS and carbon steel rebar were also tested for comparative purposes. The evolution with time of corrosion potential, polarization resistance and electrochemical impedance spectroscopy were studied.