Experimental Parametric Study of a Functional-Magnetic Material Designed for the Monitoring of Corrosion in Reinforced Concrete Structures

Abstract

The presence of aggressive agents (such as chloride ions brought by seawater) in reinforced concrete structures is responsible for the corrosion of the steel rebars. A Structural Health Monitoring technology is developed as a new passive preventive method that would allow for the detection of and for the ability to follow the presence of chloride ions in the cover concrete of reinforced concrete. This technology, referenced as Functional Magnetic Material (FMM), consists on the measurement with an external interrogator of a Magnetic Observable (MO), partially shielded by a patch and corrodible by chloride ions. This paper presents the results of a parametric experimental study, allowing the validation of the concept of this technology, by highlighting the variation of the MO while considering the geometry and the corrosion level of the patch (based on its Relative Mass Loss—RML), as well as the distance between the samples and the interrogator. The results show that the MO of the FMM significantly varies with the increase in the RML of the patch. A 10%-RML for the patch is sufficient for detecting a variation of the MO of the FMM, and the relative variations of the MO are strongly dependent on the distance between the FMM and the magnetometer, as well as the patch’s thickness.