Abstract:
In this study, effects of sea water on corrosion of steel in fly ash concrete with various coverings were investigated. Portland cement type I and V were used to cast concrete. Original and classified fly ashes were used to replace Portland cement type I at the rate of 15, 25, 35, and 50 percent by weight of cementitious material. Water to cementitious material ratios were varied as 0.45, 0.55, and 0.65. Concretes cube of 20 cm were cast and steel bar of 12 mm with 5 cm length was embedded with concrete covering of 1, 2, 5, and 7.5 cm. Other concretes of 20x20x25 cm were also cast and the steel bar was embedded with concrete covering of 9.4 cm. After the concretes were cured in water for 28-day, they were placed on the sea shore for wet-dry condition. The concretes were tested to determine the corrosion of the embedded steel after being exposed to sea water in the wet-dry condition for 180, 365, and 540 days. The results showed that the corrosion of steel embedded in concrete in marine environment at 540 days occurred only for concretes with covering of 1 and 2 cm. Concretes mixed with Portland cement type V tended to have less rusted steel than those of concretes mixed with Portland cement type I. It was noted that concretes containing original or classified fly ash 0 or 15 percent had rusted steel. However the rusted steel reduced as the replacement of fly ash increased to 25 or 35 percent. In addition, it was found that concretes mixed with classified fly ash had less rusted steel as compared to the concretes mixed with original fly ash and the concretes with lower water to cementitious material ratio had also less rusted steel as compared to the one with higher water to cementitious material ratio.