Impact of oxic and thermal transient phases on corrosion of carbon steel in different cementitious media: insights from new <i>in situ</i> experiments

The impact of oxic and thermal transient phases on corrosion of carbon steel in a cementitious environment was studied through three in situ experiments (Tournemire underground research laboratory, France). For 2 years, heated metallic samples (80°C) were placed in direct or indirect contact with two different cementitious materials: a low-pH bentonitic cement grout (BCG) and a Portland cement paste material (CEM I). Mineralogical and microstructural analyses were carried out in an attempt to identify the combined effects of pH, chemistry and microstructure properties associated with such specific cementitious media on steel corrosion mechanisms. Additionally, in situ electrical resistance corrosion sensors allowed continuous monitoring of the corrosion rates corresponding to each of the three field experiments. Post-mortem characterization indicated that metallic samples embedded in low-pH BCG were heavily damaged and exhibited high corrosion rates. Conversely, steel samples in contact with a highly alkaline CEM I environment appeared to be much less impacted by corrosion processes and revealed extremely low corrosion rate values. A comparison between these field experiments observations and results previously obtained through complementary laboratory mock-up tests finally enabled the evaluation of the impact that variations in geometrical/design aspect existing between in situ and laboratory tests can induce on material degradation.