Relationship Between Rate of Corrosion of TMT Bars and Quality of Electrolyte in Electrochemical Corrosion Process

A large number of coastal and offshore infrastructures are subjected to deterioration due to continuous effect of physical, chemical and electro-chemical process when exposed to high salinity either directly or indirectly. Reinforcement corrosion has been identified as the predominant mechanism of deterioration of reinforced concrete structures which seriously affects the serviceability, safety and durability of the structures. The researchers are interested to explore the marine effect on concrete as well as reinforcement through the laboratory experiment in artificial marine environment. However, the change in marine environment might affect the corrosion mechanism as well as rate of corrosion. This study focused to establish the relationship of marine environment and rate of corrosion of TMT steel bars. In this regard the change in electrical conductivity (EC), total dissolved solids (TDS), total suspended solids (TSS) and pH value of electrolyte solution as well as rate of corrosion of TMT steel bars were determined at an interval of 15 min during the corrosion process. The experimental results show that the electrical conductivity (EC) and total dissolved solids (TDS) decreased with the progress of corrosion while total suspended solids (TSS) and pH value increased. It indicates that salinity of electrolyte reduced by producing corrosion product and low concentration of salinity hampered the uniformity of corrosion. Therefore, the quality of electrolyte must be maintained to determine the effect of marine environment in electro-chemical corrosion process.