Corrosion performance of reinforcing steel in concrete under simultaneous flexural load and chlorides attack

In this study, the corrosion behavior of reinforcing steels in concrete under simultaneous flexural load and chlorides attack was studied by means of linear polarization resistance (LPR), electrochemical impedance spectroscopy (EIS) and cyclic potentiodynamic polarization (CPP) measurements. The influence of different stress ratios and exposure zones in marine environments on uniform corrosion resistance and pitting corrosion resistance of steels was analyzed. Moreover, different corrosion patterns were observed for the top part and bottom part of steels according to the casting direction. It was proposed that the tensile stress effect and the possible steel-concrete interfacial defects are mainly responsible for this difference.