Corrosion Behavior of HRB400 Reinforcing Steel using Cyclic Potentiodynamic Polarization Technique

HRB400 reinforcing steel due to high strength and high ductibility is as the main reinforcing steel in "Code for design of concrete structures (GB50010-2002)" in China. Cyclic potentiodynamic polarization technique was used to investigate the electrochemical corrosion bebavior of HRB400 reinforcing steel in Simulated Concrete Pore solutions (SCP solutions) differently contaminated by bicarbonate ions and/or chloride ions. The evolution feature of the corrosion parameters was analyzed and was compared with that of HPB235 reinforcing steel. The results show that the corrosion characteristics of HRB400 and HPB235 were exceedingly similar before the destruction of the passivation film. However, HRB400 is remarkedly more susceptible to chloride ions and carbonation than HPB235 during the failure of the passivation films. The pH threshold for HRB400 is larger than that for HPB235, and the chlorides threshold for the former is smaller than that of the latter. When HRB400 and HPB235 were connected and exposed to an aggressive environment, the galvanic corrosion will occur where HRB400 is anode and HPB235 is cathode. To ensure the durability of the reinforcing concrete structures, it is necessary to make the connection points insulate.