Corrosion behaviour of low-nickel austenitic stainless steels reinforcements: A comparative study in simulated pore solutions

The use of austenitic stainless steel reinforcements is one of the most reliable methods to assure the durability of reinforced concrete structures exposed to aggressive environments, but the initial cost of the material often limits its use in practice. Nickel is one of the alloying elements that raise most the cost of the stainless steels reinforcements. In this work the corrosion resistance of low-Ni 204Cu reinforcements is compared with that of more traditional austenitic stainless steels such as 304, 304L, 316, 316L and 316Ti. Polarization tests were carried out in simulated carbonated and non-carbonated pore solutions with different chloride concentrations. Results prove the very good corrosion behaviour of 204Cu stainless steel in carbonated media and in non-carbonated, chloride contaminated media. The corrosion resistance of low-Ni type 204Cu is only meaningfully lower than that of more traditional austenitic stainless steels in very highly aggressive solutions.