Laboratory Assessment of Select Methods of Corrosion Control and Repair in Reinforced Concrete Bridges

Fourteen reinforced concrete laboratory test specimens were used to evaluate a number of corrosion control (CoC) procedures to prolong the life of patch repairs in corrosion-damaged reinforced concrete. These specimens included layered mixed-in chlorides to represent chloride contamination due to deicing salts. All specimens were exposed to accelerated corrosion testing for three months, subjected to patch repairs with various treatments, and further subjected to additional three months of exposure to accelerated corrosion. The use of thermal sprayed zinc, galvanic embedded anodes, epoxy/polyurethane coating, acrylic coating, and an epoxy patch repair material was evaluated individually or in combination. The specimens were assessed with respect to corrosion currents (estimated mass loss), chloride ingress, surface rust staining, and corrosion of the reinforcing steel observed after dissection. Results indicated that when used in patch repair applications, the embedded galvanic anode with top surface coating, galvanic thermal sprayed zinc, and galvanic thermal sprayed zinc with surface coating were more effective in controlling corrosion than the other treatments tested