Future trends in research on reinforcement corrosion

Abstract

The concept of service life in the science in reinforcement corrosion has evolved from a basic description of phenomena to a more detailed engineering perspective in which quantification of processes is of vital importance. This chapter treats the following subjects: (1) causes of reinforcement corrosion – carbonation, chloride ingress and stress corrosion cracking, (2) corrosion onset and chloride threshold, (3) corrosion propagation period, (4) modelling of service life, (5) additional preventive methods, (6) repair materials and techniques and (7) corrosion measurement techniques. The paper does not develop the known aspects of these different subjects, but rather identifies those aspects still needing further research work. In this exercise, the modelling of processes and their incorporation into structural and engineering calculations is identified as the most important subject needing to be improved and further developed in the near future.