Confinement of the Electrical Signal for in Situ Measurement of Polarization Resistance in Reinforced Concrete

The paper proposes a galvanostatic method for on-site determination of the polarization resistance of reinforcement in large reinforced concrete structures and for subsequent estimation of corrosion rates using the Stern-Geary equation. The method uses two conterelectrodes to apply the electrical signal (polarization) to the reinforcement. The current applied from the external conuterelectrode (guard ring) tends to repel the line from the central counterelectrode, confining them to an area of the structure located approximately under this last electrode. The originality of the method is its use of a pair of sensors to bound the field of action of the signal emanating from the central counterelectrode. Results confirm interesting possibilities for the method.