Development of corrosion resistance of reinforcement steel bars with nano-silver coatings

Abstract

The aims of this study are to examine the effect of metallic coatings on reinforcement from the perspective of the durability properties of concrete structures. Also, consider the importance of laboratory production of cover while investigating how it can be applied to steel. In this research, to increase the corrosion resistance of the structural steel, the reinforcements were coated with thin films with a system called thermionic vacuum arc (TVA). As a result of recent studies, it has been observed that such thin films protect the reinforcement from corrosion. In this study, the effect of coated reinforcement on corrosion, which is one of the most important structural defects, was investigated. The applied coatings are nano-sized and protect the structural steel against corrosion reactions occurring on the surface. Moreover, these coatings increase the adherence between concrete and reinforcement. Specifically, for this study, silver (Ag) was used as a coating component. After the coating process was completed, the reinforcements were placed in cylindrical concrete samples and their resistance to corrosion was measured with the help of the accelerated corrosion technique. The results show that the rebars coated with the TVA system was prolonged the damage occurrence time (first crack) and diminished the corrosion reactions that occurred on the reinforcement surface.

Keywords:

• Concrete
• nanocoatings
• corrosion
• reinforcement
• silver alloys

Disclosure statement

No potential conflict of interest was reported by the author(s).

Additional information

Funding

The authors would like to thank the financial support from Eskişehir University Research Fund (BAP) (Project Code Number: 202015066). Some results in this paper were presented in the 2nd International Conference and Exhibition on Corrosion and Surface Protection for Steel (CASP 2022) which held between 25-26 May 2022 in Istanbul, Turkey. (https://caspconferences.com)