Stress Corrosion Cracking of Austenitic Stainless Steel Alloys for Reinforced Concrete

Abstract

The corrosion resistance under mechanical stress can be one of the most concerning types of localized corrosion for the application of stainless steel reinforcements in concrete. This paper will assess the stress corrosion cracking susceptibility, by the slow strain rate test method (SSRT), of three austenitic stainless steel alloys: one conventional Fe-Cr-Ni base alloy and two new composition Fe-Cr-Mn base alloys adequate to the manufacturing of ribbed bars for reinforcing concrete. The SSRT results show that only one of the austenitic Fe-Cr-Mn alloys is susceptible to stress corrosion cracking while the other shows a performance similar to that of the AISI 304 stainless steel alloy.

Basic Mechanical Properties of Duplex Stainless Steel Bars and Experimental Study of Bonding between Duplex Stainless Steel Bars and Concrete

“…Currently, the primary measures for improving the durability of reinforced concrete structures and preventing premature and rapid corrosion of reinforcing steel are [ 1 , 2 , 3 ]: use high-performance concrete, increase the thickness of the concrete protective layer, seal the concrete surface coating, mix with steel rust inhibitors, use epoxy-coated steel bars, cathodic protection of steel bars, use corrosion-resistant composite steel bars, etc. Practice has proven that the above-mentioned measures have improved the durability of reinforced concrete structures to varying degrees, but they have not fundamentally solved the problem of steel corrosion [ 4 , 5 ]. The stainless steel bars that have emerged in recent years, with their excellent corrosion resistance and mechanical properties, can fundamentally solve the problem of steel corrosion in concrete structures [ 3 , 6 , 7 , 8 , 9 ].…”

Reinforcing Bar Corrosion for Buildings Construction

“…-Carbon steel A615 and galvanized bars-high corrosion rates (915 to 1558 µm /year); -Stainless steel-minor corrosion rates (less than 2µm/ year); -Corrosion rate of sandblasted A615 is 1557.6 µm/ year. The testing conditions employed in these experiments are very aggressive and the corrosion rates are not typical of bars in a concrete environment [3,4]. Nevertheless, this test program was able to provide a quick comparison of various reinforcing bars both qualitatively (visually) and quantitatively (weight loss).…”