How do you prevent corrosion?
Try sealers, overlays,
noncorroding rebars,
anticorrosion
admixtures, or cathodic
protection systems
BY MARK WALLACE
child learns quickly that if
A he leaves his bicycle out in
the rain it will rust. In the
presence of moisture and
oxygen, the iron returns sponta-
neously to its natural oxidized state.
Steel rebars stored outside on a job-
site also rust. But embed the rebars
in concrete, and you often pre ve n t
further corrosion.
No rm a l l y, in concrete’s alkaline
environment, a passivating layer
forms over rebar, preventing it from
rusting. But chlorides or carbon
dioxide can break down this protec-
tive layer. If water and oxygen are al-
so present, the steel behaves like a
bicycle in the rain. It rusts.
Filled with water and chloride
salts, the reinforced concrete starts
to act like a giant electric battery.
The electric potential of the steel re-
bar varies as salt concentration in
the concrete va ri e s, causing an elec-
trical current to flow from one part
of the rebar cage (the anode) to an-
other part (the cathode). The anode
is the part that rusts. The rust occu-
pies up to 20 times as much volume
as the original steel, creating
tremendous forces that crack the
concrete. More water and chloride
enter through the cracks and feed
the corrosion process even more.
Se ve ral ways of pre ve n t i n g — o r
stopping—rebar corrosion are de-
scribed below. For more informa-
tion about any method, read the ref-
erenced Concrete Co n s t ru c t i o n
articles. You may order a photocopy
of an article for $1.00 each, prepaid,
from Book and Reprint Division,
Concrete Construction Publica-
tions, Inc., 426 South Westgate, Ad-
dison, Illinois 60101.
Watertight concrete
and proper cover
The first defense against rebar
corrosion should be a thick covering
of dense, highly impermeable con-
crete. Where a formed concrete sur-
face is exposed to weather or in con-
tact with ground, there should be 1
1
⁄2 inches of concrete over bars small-
er than #5 and 2 inches over bars
larger than #5. Use side form spac-
ers to keep rebar the proper dis-
tance from formwork. Architectural
indents, rustications, and deeply
textured surfaces should not reduce
the proper concrete cover. To pro-
duce impermeable concrete, mini-
mize the water-cement ratio and
consolidate and cure the concrete
well. Instead of adding excess water
to make the concrete workable, use
a water reducer or superplasticizer
(or both). Minimize shrinkage
cracking, which makes the concrete
more permeable, by using the low-
est cement content that provides
Plastic spacers
snap onto rebar to
keep it the proper
distance from
vertical forms while
placing concrete.
Rebars corrode
quickly if they’re
not properly covered
with concrete.
the needed strength. Consider pre-
stressing the concrete or using fiber
reinforcement.
Nonchloride accelerators
Calcium chloride accelerators
have been used for many years to
accelerate set and strength gain.
Some authors argue that most of the
chloride ions added by calcium
chloride combine with cement hy-
dration products and become insol-
uble within a short time (10 days in
some tests). Others, including the
American Concrete Institute Build-
ing Code Requirements for Rein-
forced Concrete (ACI 318), claim
that calcium chloride can con-
tribute to corrosion. Because of this,
ACI 318 now recommends limits on
chloride ion content: no more than
0.06 percent by weight of cement in
prestressed concrete, no more than
0.15 percent in reinforced concrete
exposed to chlorides, and no more
than 1.00 percent for re i n f o rc e d
concrete that is always dry. All other
reinforced concrete can’t contain
more than 0.30 percent chloride ion
by weight of cement.
Many engineers and some gov-
ernment agencies are more strict
than ACI 318. To play it safe, they are

completely banning chloride-based
admixtures on their projects, even
though nonchloride accelerators
can cost twice as much. Nonchlo-
ride accelerators help minimize the
amount of chloride in the fresh con-
c re t e, enabling the hardened con-
crete to absorb more chloride be-
fore its chloride content exceeds the
corrosion threshold. But nonchlo-
ride accelerators don’t permanently
prevent corrosion. If enough deicers
or other chloride chemicals pene-
trate the concrete, corrosion can
still occur.
Cathodic protection
“The only rehabilitation tech-
nique that has proved to stop corro-
sion in salt-contaminated bridge
decks regardless of chloride content
of the concrete is cathodic protec-
tion,” said Federal Highway Admin-
istrator Ray Ba rn h a rt in 1982. Ca-
thodic protection stops corrosion by
reversing the electrochemical
process that causes corrosion.
Workers install an electrode in the
concrete near the reinforcement
and connect it to the positive termi-
nal of a direct current power source.
Then they connect the negative ter-
minal to the reinforcement. The
positive current this supplies to the
rebar overcomes any corrosion cur-
rent that was previously flowing
within the rebar cage.
Sealers or overlays?
If you can prevent chloride salts
from reaching the rebar, they can’t
Cathodic protection
electrodes can
prevent new or old
reinforced concrete
structures from
corroding. Direct
current supplied to
the electrodes
overcomes any
electrochemical
corrosion currents
flowing within the
concrete.
break down the protective oxide lay-
er that forms on the rebar. But what
is the best way to keep salts out of
concrete—sealers or specialty con-
crete overlays? The now famous Na-
tional Co o p e ra t i ve Highway Re-
search Program (NCHRP) Report
244 examined this question. The re-
port studied 21 sealers and 5 spe-
cialty concretes to see how well they
resisted deicing salts and air-borne
or waterborne sea salts. Though
some concretes reduced salt water
absorption cost-effectively, some
sealers reduced it even more. Of the
sealers tested (including boiled lin-
seed oil, chlorinated rubber,
styrene-butadiene, urethanes, and
sodium silicate), a 50-percent-solids
epoxy, a methyl methacrylate, and a
silane performed best. Iowa low-
slump concrete and superplasti-
cized low-slump concrete absorbed
more salt water (but cost less) than
the methyl methacrylate polymer
concrete or latex- or epox y- m o d i-
fied concretes that were studied.
Sealers
Every month it seems another
coating for concrete is introduced.
But, of course, no coating has
proved to be the miracle barrier that
protects reinforced concrete from
corrosion under all conditions. Se-
lecting a good material is not easy.
Will the sealer be used on a vertical
or horizontal surface? Must it resist
low or high temperatures—or both?
Must it bear traffic? How much con-
crete movement must it permit?
Does it discolor with age? How often
must it be reapplied?
Se ve ral products are available: A
good epoxy coating can provide an
impermeable barrier to water, de-
icers, mild acids, alkalies, oils, and
gasoline. It also can resist abrasion.
An acrylic sealer can protect against
water and deicers. Silane sprayed on
the concrete reacts with cement hy-
dration products to form a layer that
repels water and chlorides. Now in
use for more than 20 years, linseed
oil emulsions keep deicer salts from
penetrating the concrete, but they
must be reapplied every 2 years.
Polymer concrete overlays
Polymer concretes do not contain
water or portland cement. A poly-
mer holds the aggregate together in-
stead. Ep ox i e s, polyesters, acrylics,
and polyurethanes are some of the
polymer binders that have been
used. Placed 1⁄4 to 3⁄8 inch thick, poly-
mer concrete overlays are very im-
permeable to water and chlorides.
Though expensive, they are useful
whenever the concrete must be re-
opened to traffic soon after a repair.
Acrylic concrete can cost $50 a cubic
foot, but it reaches 5000 to 10,000
psi in 1 to 2 hours.
After workers strike off a polymer
concrete overlay, they broadcast ad-
ditional aggregate onto the surface
to improve skid resistance. Or they
place the overlay in successive lay-
ers: a broom coat of polymer, a lay-
er of aggregate, more polymer, more
aggregate.
A polymer concrete overlay must
be compatible with the underlying
c o n c re t e. Bond strength, shri n k-
age, and thermal compatibility are
particularly important. For exam-
ple, in epoxy concrete overlays you
should use Type III epox y, as de-
fined by ASTM C 881, but only if it
passes tests for bond stre n g t h
(ASTM C 882), shrinkage (ASTM C
883), and thermal compatibility
(ASTM C 884).
Latex-modified
concrete overlays
 Portland cement concrete modi-
fied with styrene butadiene latex
has been used to overlay bridge and
parking decks since 1957. Latex
modified concrete (LMC) has higher
bond, tensile, and flexural strengths
than conventional concrete. Adding
latex reduces the amount of mix wa-
ter needed, making the concrete
denser. It also creates a barrier to
water, oxygen, and corrosive chemi-
cals. Results from an electrical resis-
tance test developed by the Federal
Highway Administration (FHWA)
show the low chloride permeability
of LMC: Compared with 1,210 and
2,560 coulombs of current that
passed through conventional con-
cretes with water-cement ratios of
0.4 and 0.5, only 876 coulombs
passed through LMC.
But LMC is expensive: It can cost
from $200 to $400 or more per cu-
bic yard. The contractor must mix it
onsite and place and finish it within
about 10 minutes. Then he must
cure it under wet burlap and poly-
ethylene for the first 24 hours, then
dry cure it the next 72 hours.
Silica-fume concrete overlays
Silica fume (also called microsili-
ca) is a by-product of the industrial
manufacture of ferrosilicon and
metallic silicon. Its solid glassy
spheres of silicon dioxide are 50 to
100 times finer than cement or fly
ash particles. These very fine parti-
cles react with cement and plug the
pores in concrete. The result is im-
proved strength, density, imperme-
ability, electrical resistivity, and
abrasion resistance. Adding silica
fume to concrete slows carbonation
and helps keep chlorides out, both
of which reduce rebar corrosion.
But silica fume requires more water
(or a superplasticizer) and longer
curing (at least 7 days). It’s also more
susceptible to rapid surface drying
and plastic shrinkage cracking.
Se ve ral states are now experi-
menting with silica-fume concrete
overlays for bridge decks. Ohio in-
stalled their first test section in 1984.
In January 1987, they distributed a
state specification for silica-fume
concrete bridge deck overlays to dis-
trict engineers and by mid-year sev-
en silica-fume overlays had been
built or specified. Parking decks also
are being overlaid with silica-fume
concrete. Examples: Old Kent Bank
Parking St ru c t u re, Grand Rapids,
Michigan; Standard Oil Building,
Chicago; Cobo Hall, Detroit; and
O ’ Ha re Plaza Office Complex,
Chicago.
Iowa low-slump
concrete overlays
Since 1965, Iowa has built more
than 1,000 bridge deck overlays with
high-cement-content, high-densi-
ty, low-slump, air-entrained con-
c re t e. And they’re still building
them, 50 to 100 a year. The special
mix they use, now commonly called
Iowa low-slump concrete (LSC), re-
sists chloride penetration. One cu-
bic yard contains 823 pounds of ce-
ment, 1,394 pounds of coarse
aggregate, 1,394 pounds of fine ag-
gregate, and enough water and wa-
t e r- reducing admixture to produce
a 3⁄4-inch slump. The fresh concrete
must have 61⁄2 percent entrained air
and a density of 98 percent of rod-
ded unit weight.
Contractors must make the con-
crete onsite, usually in a mobile
batcher mixer. They prime the deck
with a sand-cement bonding grout
and place the 13⁄4-inch-thick overlay
with self-propelled finishing ma-
chines. Then they immediately ap-
ply a white curing compound. For
the first 72 hours, they also cover it
with wet burlap. After 24 hours, they
can cover the burlap with polyethyl-
ene instead of keeping it wet with a
sprinkling system.
In the last few years, some states,
such as Ohio and New York, have
added superplasticizers to LSC to
make it easier to place. Iowa has
tried superplasticized dense con-
crete (SDC), also. But because Iowa
paving contractors already have the
special paving equipment needed
to consolidate LSC, they haven’t
found SDC economical. Other
states continue to use LSC overlays,
too. Kansas has LSC bridge deck
overlays that have been in service
for more than 25 years.
Epoxy-coated rebars
Rebars completely coated with
epoxy don’t rust. Though salts may
permeate concrete they can’t pene-
trate the epoxy coating—as long as
the coating is not severely damaged
before it’s embedded in the con-
crete. Epoxy-coated rebars were first
used in 1973, but it wasn’t until 1976
Epoxy-coated rebars
don’t rust, unless
the coating is
severely damaged
before the rebars
are embedded in the
concrete.
that a fusion-bonded coating
specifically designed for rebars was
available. The rebars are coated on a
conveyor line. They’re blast cleaned,
heated to about 450° F, sprayed with
powdered epoxy, then cooled in a
water bath. After they’re coated, the
manufacturer bends them into the
standard hooks and bends. In frost-
belt states, usually only the top mat
of bars is epoxy coated. In a seacoast
location, all of the bars may need
coating.

Stainless steel rebars

Because stainless steel rebars cost
3 to 6 times more than convention-
al rebars, they rarely are used to pre-
vent corrosion. But they are very
corrosion resistant. Stainless steel
rebars also are nonmagnetic, which
is why they are sometimes used in
construction. Reinforced concrete
Mixing calcium nitrite into concrete makes the passivating layer that forms on
s t ru c t u res that house devices such the steel resistant to chlorides. With the passivating layer intact, the steel can’t
as nuclear magnetic resonance corrode.
(NMR) units must be built with
nonmagnetic reinforcing bars.

Galvanized steel reinforcement
Some sources say galvanized re-
bar won’t protect against corrosion
long enough to justify its use in con-
crete. Others disagree. “We feel gal-
vanizing is one answer that should
w o rk ,” says Dr. Dodd S. Carr of the
International Lead Zinc Re s e a rc h
Organization, Inc.
In the mid-1970s, Pe n n s y l va n i a
built more than 200 bridge decks re-
inforced with galvanized rebar. The
dramatic sail-shaped roofs of the
Sydney Opera House in Au s t ra l i a
were built with galvanized rebar be-
tween 1963 and 1967. The Boca Chi-
ca Bridge and the Seven Mile Bridge
on Fl o ri d a’s “Overseas Highway” to
Key West were reinforced with gal-
vanized rebar in 1972. Ga l va n i ze d
rebar also has been used in seve ra l
s t ru c t u res in Bermuda: Longbird
Bridge (1953), Flatts Bridge (1966),
Hamilton Dock (1966), Penno’s
Wharf in St. George (1964-1969),
and the Jetty at the Royal Be rm u d a
Yacht Club in Hamilton (1968).
In 1986, De l e u w - Ca t h e r, In c. ,
specified galvanized rebar cages for
tunnel liners in the extensions of the
subway system in Washington, DC.
Since 1961, BBR Prestressed Tanks,
Inc., of El Cajon, California, has built
350 concrete tanks using about 4
million pounds of galvanized pre-
stressing wire.
Glass-fiber-reinforced-plastic
rebars
Because they don’t corrode, glass-
f i b e r- re i n f o rced-plastic (GFRP) re-
bars have been used to control
cracks in concrete structures ex-
posed to highly corrosive environ-
ments. Examples are chemical
plants, wastewater treatment
plants, and marine stru c t u re s.
Though the tensile strength of the
GFRP bars ranges from 70,000 to
170,000 psi, the modulus of elastici-
ty of GFRP is only one-fourth that of
steel. Because of this, concrete
members must be specially propor-
tioned if GFRP bars are used as
structural reinforcement. You can’t
substitute plastic bars for steel bars
on an equal area basis.
Corrosion-inhibiting admixture
If you can make the passivating
layer that forms on steel resistant to
chloride, then you can prevent cor-
rosion. One way of doing this is to
add calcium nitrite to the fresh con-
c re t e. Calcium nitrite stabilizes the
passivating layer chemically, pre-
venting chloride ions from attacking
it. Normally, reinforcing steel starts
to corrode when there are about 1 1⁄3
pounds of chloride ion per cubic
yard at the rebar. When you add 4
gallons of calcium nitrite per cubic
yard, corrosion does not begin until
more than 13 pounds of chloride
ion are present per cubic yard.
Calcium nitrite also increases ear-
ly strengths and shortens setting
time. More air-entraining agent is
needed to achieve a given air con-
tent, too. Since 1979, calcium nitrite
has been used in concrete bridge
decks in more than 12 states, in-
cluding Indiana, Illinois, Ohio,
Michigan, New Hampshire, and
Texas.
PUBLICATION#C880110
Copyright © 1988, The Aberdeen Group
All rights reserved