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⌂ Home / How To Guide / How to Control Corrosion of Steel Reinforcement in Concrete?

How to Control Corrosion of Steel Reinforcement in Concrete?

Table of Contents 
Why Corrosion Control of Reinforcement bars (Rebars) is necessary?
Methods of Corrosion Control of Reinforcement in Concrete:
1. Cement-Polymer Composite Coated Rebars (CPCC)
2. Fusion Bonded Epoxy Coated Rebars (FBEC)
3. Corrosion Resistant Steel Deformed Rebars (CRSD)
Comparison between Methods of Corrosion Control in Rebar:

Why Corrosion Control of Reinforcement bars (Rebars) is necessary?

Corrosion control of steel reinforcement is necessary to prevent damage and failure of concrete structures. Nearly 40% of failure of
concrete structures is due to corrosion of embedded steel reinforcement.

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There can be many causes for corrosion of reinforcement, but mostly it is related to quality of concrete, environment and quality of
construction practices. So, the rst step in corrosion control of rebar is to provide good quality of concrete through good construction
practices. The quality of concrete materials, mixing, placing and compaction techniques and good workmanship can help control the rebar
corrosion.

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Fig: Types of Cracks in Concrete due to Corrosion of Rebar

Though quality control in concrete construction may reduce chances of corrosion, there are various methods by which the corrosion
control of reinforcement bars can achieved.

Corrosion Protection

Metal Stainless Steel

For Steel and Aluminum

Concrete Testing

Steel Structure

Methods of Corrosion Control of Reinforcement in Concrete:

1. Cement-Polymer Composite Coated Rebars (CPCC)
Cement polymer coated rebars embedded in concrete are surrounded by an alkaline medium, thus cement based coating is more
compatible for reinforcement corrosion control. Two coats of cement polymer are applied on rebar – Primer coat and Sealer coat.

Products involved in Cement Polymer Composite Coated rebar are:

De-rusting Solution
Alkaline Powder
Phosphating Jelly
Inhibitor Solution
Sealing Solution

This system has been developed mainly as a factory / shop process.

Process of Cement Polymer Composite Coated rebar:

Sl. No. Parameter Requirements

1 Surface preparation or pre-treatment Sand blasting to the near white metal

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2 Application of primer coat To be applied within four hours of pre-treatment (sand blasting)
 Sealer coat to be applied within 30 minutes of primer coat application. Thickness of
3 Application of sealer coat Search ...
sealer coat should be 150+/- 25 microns

4 Air curing coated rebar Cement polymer coated rebars should be air cured six hours before use in Search
work.

No defects such as cracking, bulging, peeling, no rust marks. Visual inspection to be

5 Check for continuity of coating
carried out.

The coated rebars are bent at 120o around a mandrel. No peeling or cracking of coat
6 Test for adhesion of coating
should be observed on outer radius.

7 Stacking of coated rebars Coated rebars to be stacked on buffer materials

Coated rebars can be cut and bent. Cut ends and weld portion of the rebar should be
8 Cutting, bending and welding of coated rebars
treated with same formulation.

The approach behind development of this system is that the base metal of rebars, contains pi electrons which get readily released in
corrosive environment leading to oxidation of iron and thereby formation of Ferrous Oxide (II) (rust) as principal deterrent. In order to
prevent this oxidation a surface coating capable of interacting/nullifying the released electrons is provided.

Further prestressing and reinforcing steel, in concrete during service life, are exposed to an alkaline environment and this necessitates
introductions of a top coat which should be compatible to primer and alkaline environment.

2. Fusion Bonded Epoxy Coated Rebars (FBEC)

Fusion bonded epoxy coated rebar is produced from 100% solid nely ground fused powder particles. These particles melt to form a
continuous adherent lm when heated. There is no passivating primer lm provided in case of FBEC rebars. Fusion bonded epoxy coating
introduces a medium of weakness in the path of an intimate bond between rebar and alkaline concrete.

Process of Fusion Bonded Epoxy Coated Rebars:

No. Parameter Requirement

1. Bars are rst cleaned from surface contamination

such as oil, grease etc. by chemical process before shot blasting.
Pre-treatment 2. The reinforcement bars are cleaned by shot blasting or
1.
(Surface reparation) grit blasting to white or near white stage.
3. The blast cleaned bars are then heated through
induction heaters at preset temperature level around 230°C.

Hot bars are then fed to the coating booth, where the
2. Coating
epoxy powder is sprayed electrostatically.

Coated bars are then cured and forced

3. Curing and Cooling
cooled by water spraying to enable handling and testing.

Online and o ine holiday checks, thickness checks are carried out. The adhesion of the coated bars is also
4. Continuity of coating
tested frequently by bending of the bar.

Various other tests are performed in laboratory like chemical

Testing of Performance
5. resistance, short spray, resistance in continuance boiling water, abrasion resistance and impact resistance etc.
of rebar
These are conducted on every batch of production.
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6. Handling & Stacking Fusion Bonded Epoxy Coated Bars require padded contacts during transportation, stacking, handling and till the
 concreting is done.
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Cutting, bending & The cut ends, welded spots and handling damages are required to be repaired with special liquid epoxy
7.
welding compatible with the coating material as per speci cation of the coating agency.
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Extensive investigation carried out on 40 bridges in Florida Key in USA has revealed that disbandment can occur easily in the FBEC rebars
which lacked passivation layer of Ferrous oxide (II) and is a precursor to corrosion. Higher coe cient of Thermal Expansion of fusion
bonded epoxies impose large thermal stresses in epoxy coating leading to its early failure.

Table: Mandrel Diameter for Bend Test Requirements

Bar Diameter (mm) Mandrel Diameter (mm)

6 60

8 80

10 100

12 100

16 125

18 150

20 150

22 200

25 200

28 225

32 280

36 280

40 400

45 450

50 500

Epoxy coats the rebar in the following manner:

Melts
Flows
Gels
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Cures
 Cools
Adheres as coating Search ...

3. Corrosion Resistant Steel Deformed Rebars (CRSD) Search

Mechanism of resistance to corrosion begins with the formation of initial layer of protective oxide or rust. (Hypo oxides). Unlike common
rust on normal rebars, the CRSD rust is passive, tenacious and self-renewing. The protective oxide is ne textured, tightly adherent and a
barrier to moisture, oxygen, carbon dioxide, Sulphur dioxide and chloride effectively preventing further corrosion.

Scale on normal bars of steel is coarse textured aky oxide that does not prevent moisture or oxygen from reaching the underlying bars
and continuing the corrosion. As corrosion resistance is in the chemistry of the grade, if the passive oxide layer gets removed somehow, a
new passive layer is formed immediately.

Corrosion Resistant Steel Deformed Rebars – Mechanical Properties

Properties IS:1786 Fe500D CRSD

Yield Stress, YS (min, N/mm2) 500 500

% Elongation 16 16

Ultimate Tensile Strength, UTS (min, N/mm2) 565 580

Comparison between Methods of Corrosion Control in Rebar:

Comparison between Cement Polymer Composite Coated rebar, Fusion Bonded Epoxy Coated Rebars and Corrosion Resistant Steel
Deformed Rebars:

Parameters CPCC FBEC CRSD

Thickness of Coating 175 mm – 300 mm 300 mm – 675 mm No coating required

Type of Protection to
Extrinsic Extrinsic Intrinsic
rebar

Pretreatment is required before

Pre-treatment Pretreatment is required before coating No pre-treatment required
coating

Before coating the surface made

Before coating the surface made little The surface of the nished good is not
Treatment to surface little rough when some damage
rough when some damage is introduced. disturbed or damaged at all.
is introduced.

Temperature The whole process is done at

230°C – 400°C No treatment required
treatment room temperature.

Special Bending Modi ed mandrel diameter is Modi ed mandrel diameter is speci ed by

Same as other TMT rebars of Fe 500D grade
requirement speci ed by Indian Standard Indian Standard

Defects introduced Holiday Effect Holliday Effect Nil

Reference

‘Durability of Concrete Structures’, RDSO, India

‘Guidelines for the use of High performance Concrete in Bridges’, RDSO, India
IS: 13620 – Fusion Bonded Epoxy Coated Reinforcement Bars – Speci cation
A775/A775M ? 07b (Reapproved 2014) – Standard Speci cation for Epoxy-Coated Steel Reinforcing Bars
Corrosion Reinforced Steel in Concrete by Tonini-Gaides – ASTM Special Publication 713
Corrosion of Reinforcement in Concrete Construction by C.L. Pagci P.B. Bamforth, J.W. Figg (U.K.)

Article by: Priyanka Gupta, Manager, Tata Steel Ltd.

Read More:

Corrosion of Steel Reinforcement in Concrete -Causes and Protection

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Measuring Reinforcement Corrosion in Concrete