Maintenance and rehabilitation of reinforced concrete slabs using realkalisation treatment
Résumé
During the electrochemical realkalisation treatment of reinforced concrete, hydroxyl ions are produced around the rebars leading to an increase of the pH which is expected to stop or slow down the corrosion activity of the rebars. In this paper, two sets of carbonated reinforced concrete slabs were realkalised : for the first set, the rebars were corroded due to an accelerated carbonation process and for the second set, the rebars were additionally intentiostatically corroded after the same carbonation process. In order to evaluate the efficiency of the realkalisation used as a maintenance or rehabilitation treatment, electrochemical characterizations (rest potential, linear polarization resistance, impedance) were performed as non destructive tests. Analytical characterizations such as qualitative and quantitative pH determinations were also conducted. According to the electrochemical results, the efficiency of the treatment depends on the initial corrosion state of the rebars. These results will be discussed together with the evolution of the basicity of the concrete around the rebars to finally assess the efficiency of the realkalisation treatment.