Polarisation behaviour of steel bar samples in concrete in seawater. Part 1: Experimental measurement of polarisation curves of steel in concrete

The most widely used technique for the investigation of corrosion of reinforcing steel in concrete is the linear polarisation resistance (LPR) method, which however needs to assume the Tafel slopes or the B constant for calculation of the corrosion rate. This paper aims to explore the use of a polarisation curve technique to study the polarisation behaviour and to evaluate simultaneously the corrosion rate and Tafel slopes of steel samples in concrete. As the first part of the study, this paper reviews the relevant literature, and examines the effect of the experimental technique on the measured polarisation curves of steel in concrete in seawater. In particular, differences in the results obtained by two different test procedures are examined. A comparison of the experimental polarisation curves with the theoretical curves based on charge transfer reactions is made.