Geostatistic analysis of corrosion in reinforced concrete slabs

Análise geoestatística da corrosão em lajes de concreto armado

ABSTRACT

The objective of this work is to study the behavior of corrosion in reinforced concrete slabs from the point of view of geostatistics. To this end, measurements of electrochemical potentials (reinforcement corrosion potentials) were taken in regions of a reinforced concrete slab, which was divided into smaller areas of the same dimensions in the “x” and “y” directions, respectively. In order to make the study feasible, a sub-region of this slab was separated where the corrosive activity was already more aggressive and the variograms were calculated for the “x” and “y” directions, according to the distances from the measurement points. After a detailed analysis of the results and the creation of graphs for each axis, the equations that best fitted the curves were obtained, in particular the polynomial for the “x” direction and the logarithmic for the “y” direction. From the data obtained, it is possible to understand the spatial extent of the problem, identify the corrosion bands in which each region of the structure studied is located and know the zone of influence of the sub-region used for analysis. The results can be used to choose the best technique for mitigating and combating slab corrosion, as well as for future work.

Keywords:
Corrosion in reinforced concrete; Geostatistics; Corrosion in slabs; Corrosion potential