Long-term corrosion of rebars embedded in aerial and hydraulic binders - Parametric study and first step of modelling

The prediction of long-term behaviour of reinforced concrete structures involved in the nuclear industry requires a phenomenological modelling of the rebars corrosion processes. Previous analytical characterisation of archaeological artefacts allowed to identify a typical layout constituted of four layers (the metal, the dense product layer, the transformed medium and the binder). Additional experiments leaded to identify the long-term corrosion mechanisms. Following these results, this paper proposes an analytical model of long-term corrosion of rebars embedded in concrete. This modelling is considering the kinetic of oxygen diffusion through the system and its consumption at the metal/dense product layer interface as a function of concrete water saturation degree. Corrosion products thicknesses estimated with the model are then compared to corrosion product thicknesses measured on archaeological artefacts. A parametric study is performed and demonstrates that the oxygen diffusivity and the kinetic constant of the cathodic reaction affect in a wide range the model results. (C) 2008 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.