Potential mapping technique for the detection of corrosion in reinforced concrete structures: Investigation of parameters influencing the measurement and determination of the reliability of the method

The potential distribution around a corrosion site in concrete was modeled by means of at simple mathematical model for a rod-shaped anode. Based on these calculations the influencing parameters and the limits of the potential mapping technique were determined. They demonstrate that the location or anodes depends on the anode length, the concrete coverage, and the measuring grid. Moreover small anodes with less than 1 cm length are virtually impossible to localize. Investigations on concrete elements without reinforcing steel showed that heterogeneous water content and chloride distribution call result in potential differences of up to 150 mV on the concrete surface. This effect was related to the streaming potential and the diffusion overpotential in the concrete. In order to determine the reliability of the potential mapping technique in the field application, the concrete on a tunnel wall was removed after the measurement of the potential distribution and the corrosion loss of the steel was determined. It was found that all corrosion sites with more than 2 mm material loss were detected by the potential mapping technique. Only some smaller corrosion sites were not found. Based on this investigation, the applicability of the potential mapping technique for detecting corrosion sites was confirmed. The observed high reliability of the potential mapping technique can be explained by a combination of the heterogeneous wetting of the concrete, the inhomogeneous contamination with chloride, and the macrocell formation.