Effect of Silica Fume and Fly Ash Admixtures on the Corrosion Behavior of AISI 304 Embedded in Concrete Exposed in 3.5% NaCl Solution

Miguel Angel Baltazar-Zamora; David M Bastidas; Griselda Santiago-Hurtado; José Manuel Mendoza-Rangel; Citlalli Gaona-Tiburcio; José M Bastidas; Facundo Almeraya-Calderón

doi:10.3390/ma12234007

Effect of Silica Fume and Fly Ash Admixtures on the Corrosion Behavior of AISI 304 Embedded in Concrete Exposed in 3.5% NaCl Solution

Materials (Basel). 2019 Dec 3;12(23):4007. doi: 10.3390/ma12234007.

Authors

Miguel Angel Baltazar-Zamora¹, David M Bastidas², Griselda Santiago-Hurtado³, José Manuel Mendoza-Rangel⁴, Citlalli Gaona-Tiburcio⁵, José M Bastidas⁶, Facundo Almeraya-Calderón⁵

Affiliations

¹ Facultad de Ingeniería Civil-Xalapa, Universidad Veracruzana, Lomas del Estadio S/N, Zona Universitaria, C.P. 91000 Xalapa, Veracruz, Mexico.
² National Center for Education and Research on Corrosion and Materials Performance, NCERCAMP-UA, Dept. Chemical, Biomolecular, and Corrosion Engineering, The University of Akron, 302 E Buchtel Ave, Akron, OH 44325-3906, USA.
³ Facultad de Ingeniería Civil-Unidad Torreón, UADEC, C.P. 27276 Torreón, Mexico.
⁴ FIC., Universidad Autónoma de Nuevo León, Ave. Pedro de Alba S/N, Ciudad Universitaria, C.P. 66455 San Nicolás de los Garza, Mexico.
⁵ FIME-CIIIA, Universidad Autónoma de Nuevo León, Av. Universidad S/N, Ciudad Universitaria, C.P. 66455 San Nicolás de los Garza, Mexico.
⁶ National Centre for Metallurgical Research (CENIM), CSIC, Ave. Gregorio del Amo 8, 28040 Madrid, Spain.

Abstract

The use of supplementary cementitious materials such as fly ash, slag, and silica fume improve reinforced concrete corrosion performance, while decreasing cost and reducing environmental impact compared to ordinary Portland cement. In this study, the corrosion behavior of AISI 1018 carbon steel (CS) and AISI 304 stainless steel (SS) reinforcements was studied for 365 days. Three different concrete mixtures were tested: 100% CPC (composite Portland cement), 80% CPC and 20% silica fume (SF), and 80% CPC and 20% fly ash (FA). The concrete mixtures were designed according to the ACI 211.1 standard. The reinforced concrete specimens were immersed in a 3.5 wt.% NaCl test solution to simulate a marine environment. Corrosion monitoring was evaluated using the corrosion potential (E_corr) according to ASTM C876 and the linear polarization resistance (LPR) according to ASTM G59. The results show that AISI 304 SS reinforcements yielded the best corrosion behavior, with E_corr values mainly pertaining to the region of 10% probability of corrosion, and corrosion current density (i_corr) values indicating passivity after 105 days of experimentation and low probability of corrosion for the remainder of the test period.

Keywords: concrete; concrete admixtures; corrosion; fly ash; marine environment; silica fume.