Three year tests on cathodic prevention of reinforced concrete structures

The effectiveness of cathodic protection applied to new reinforced or prestressed concrete structures exposed to chloride environments for preventing pitting corrosion has been studied. The operating conditions have been evaluated with long term tests on reinforced concrete slabs polarized with current densities ranging from 0.5 to 20 mA/m2 and subjected to chloride ponding. Laboratory tests were carried out to estimate the pitting potential versus the chloride content and to evaluate the effect of low cathodic currents on the chloride migration in the concrete cover. The results show that cathodic prevention may be effective in preventing pitting corrosion initiation by increasing the critical chloride content and that this technique can be safely applied also to new prestressed structures. The effect of current densities up to 2 mA/m2 on chloride migration was negligible during the first three years of test.