Corrosion and tensile behavior of 316L stainless steel concrete reinforcement in harsh environments containing a corrosion inhibitor

Abstract The electrochemical performance of 316L stainless steel rebars in a solution of pH~8 consisting of Ca(OH)2 and fly ash (0-25 wt.% of the dry mixture) in an acid rain simulating solution was investigated by reverse polarization. Concrete cubes containing 0-25 wt.% fly ash and reinforced with 316L or 304L rebars were subjected to salt spraying. The salt spraying-due degradation of the rebars was studied by tensile testing. The beneficial effect of fly ash up to 20 wt.% content on the electrochemical behavior of 316L rebars is demonstrated. However, this trend is reversed at 25 wt.% FA. The tensile behaviour of 316L and 304L rebars after 2 m of salt spraying was not significantly affected by the fly ash presence. 316L and 304L embedded rebars performed similarly on tensile testing after salt spraying.