Corrosion Evolution of Reinforcing Steel in Concrete under Dry/Wet Cyclic Conditions Contaminated with Chloride

The corrosion evolution of rebar in concrete was monitored by electrochemical impedance spectroscopy (EIS) under dry/wet alternated accelerated corrosion test. Four stages with different dynamic characteristics were observed during the corrosion evolution. They were passive stage, local corrosion controlled by the charge transfer step, accelerated corrosion controlled by the mass transfer step, and constant rate corrosion controlled by the mass transfer step through a barrier layer. X-ray diffraction (XRD) analysis showed that the corrosion product of rebar in mortar was composed of alpha-FeOOH, gamma-FeOOH and Fe3O4. The corrosion mechanisms of all four stages were discussed and the corrosion reactions were proposed according to the corrosion product and corrosion evolution characteristics.