M. Keddam a, X.R. Nvoa b, V.

Vivier

Corrosion Science 2009

Terminology Background Introduction Experimental Set-up Objectives Findings Numerical Modelling Discussion Authors Conclusions Critical Review
Strengths of the Paper Weaknesses Potential for Further Work

 Corrosion is the degradation of a

material due to reactions with its environment. A current is induced on the surface of rebar when corrosion is actively taking place.
Electrochemical Impedance Spectroscopy (EIS) Impedance is the ability to resist the flow of current, like resistance, but

is more applicable when alternating current (a.c.) is used.

The polarization resistance, Rp, is the low frequency limit of the

impedance; this provides information about corrosion.

An electrically floating electrode (EFE) is one that is not directly

connected to the object under study (the reinforcing steel in this case)

 Use of EIS in Literature for Corrosion

Studies in Reinf. Concrete

3-electrode electrochemical cell is

used as the model Working electrode is the metal under study Calcium hyroxide models the concrete environment Direct contact to the metal is necessary Commercial potentiostat used for measurements Analysis of data is well known electrical theory

people.clarkson.edu/~samoy/Corrosion_ EIS.htm

 The feasibility of using an EFE is explored to examine

the electrochemical behavior of an electronically conducting body immersed in an electrolytic medium through impedance (EIS) measurements. Reinforced concrete is the subject of this paper, however, the EFE is applicable to a variety of other systems and can be used to investigate:
Corrosion behavior metallic particles in zinc-rich paints Conductability of metallic particles in suspension The ability of micro electrodes to probe within a

protective coating

 EIS was performed

using two different methods

Three electrode

cell used in literature

Four electrode

cell being Investigated

 To investigate the effect of cover thickness on the

impedance spectra of a 4-electrode system To estimate the potential of the bar-cement interface indirectly based on its contribution to the current and potential distributions between the measuring electrodes by comparing data collected to numerical simulations.
Note that the analysis was done by comparing the comparing experimental impedance data to numerical simulations based on the frequency dependent distribution of potential and current computed by a 3-D finite element method (FEM) software. Moreover, a comparison was done with previous results simulated with a 2-D model

 Nyquist Plot where

the imaginary part of the impedance is plotted against the real part for different frequencies. The Rp is the diameter of each plot.

 3-D model

 The distance between the two reference electrodes is a

good approximation of the rebar length sensed. At high frequencies the injected current flows preferentially within the steel bar. The apparent Rp of the reinforcing bar, measured by the 4-electrode technique, can be related to the effective Rp by considering the concrete resistivity.

 Within realistic ranges of concrete resistivity and polarisation

resistance values, the technique can be used for extracting meaningful impedance characteristics of the reinforcement bar

Why is this important?

Charge, efrom applied, a.c. current
Applied a.c. current is interrupted, at pit and d.c. current now generated by corrosion

D.C. Current

A.C. Current

Cross-section of Reinforcing Bar (no corrosion)

Longitudinal Section of Reinforcing Bar (with corrosion)

 Strengths of paper
Interesting and relevant research topic Thorough and clear description of 4-electrode experiment (which

was my primary interest here)

Weaknesses of paper
Traditional 3-electrode EIS was done as part of the experiment

however, no mention of it was made in the presentation of results or analysis. Lack of background information on the numerical analysis conducted, the presentation of which was heavy with electrical jargon and difficult to follow.
Potential for further work
As stated in the paper, the contact-less technique can be extended

to the detection and characterisation of corrosion on the surfaces of embedded reinforcing steel bars

THANK YOU!