A State-of-the-Art Review of Electrochemical Chloride Extraction for Concrete Structures

Electrochemical chloride extraction is a promising technique for the rehabilitation of concrete structures under chloride induced corrosion. This study consists of an extensive literature review of this treatment including application cases. It is found that the rate of chlorides removed is affected by the total charge passed, whereas increasing charge in a range between 1500 to 2000 Ah/m2 increases the amount of chlorides removed and this can be more effective by increasing current density instead of duration of treatment. Bound chlorides are extracted during treatment and, water works better than Ca(OH)2 as an electrolyte, possibly due to modifications on the concrete pore structure. Moreover, ECE is not efficient in repassivate structures but is efficient in its purpose of removing chlorides if treatment setup is well planned, which justifies the need for better international standards on the topic.

Degradation of bond between steel bar and freeze-thaw concrete after electrochemical chloride extraction

The effect of electrochemical chloride extraction （ECE） on bond strength between steel bar and freeze-thaw concrete contaminated by chloride was experimentally investigated for beam specimens with dimensions of 100 mm × 100 mm × 400 ram. During the experiment, 3% NaC1 （vs mass of cement, mass fraction） was mixed into concrete to simulate chloride contamination, and the specimens experienced 0, 25, 50, 75 freeze-thaw cycles before ECE. In the process of ECE, different current densities and durations were adopted. It is indicated that the bond strength between reinforcement and concrete decreases with the increase of freeze-thaw cycles; the more the current and the electric quantity of ECE are, the more the loss of bond strength is; and the largest loss is up to 58.7%. So, it is important to choose proper parameters of ECE for the reinforced concrete structures contaminated by chloride and subjected to freeze-thaw cycles.

Change of Electrochemical Property of Reinforced Concrete after Electrochemical Chloride Extraction

The half cell potential （HCP） and corrosion current of reinforced concrete specimens doped with sodium chloride were determined after electrochemical chloride extraction （ECE）. The experimental results show that when ECE treatment is removed, HCP becomes more negative and corrosion current becomes larger in comparison to those before ECE treatment, then HCP shifts positively and corrosion current decreases with time. After 30 days ECE treatment, the HCP of cored specimens turn to about -100 mV due to the existence of sufficient oxygen around the exposed steel bars, but for un-cored specimens, longer time, about two months, is to be taken. The non-homogeneous HCP distribution at different layers of the same specimen after ECE treatment might induce secondary corrosion of steels.