Stainless steel rebars, a cost effective and sustainable solutionto the corrosion of structures

Abstract

Civil engineering structures may suffer accelerated damage from thecorrosion of their carbon steel reinforcement bars. This corrosion originatesfrom the carbonatation of concrete that lowers the pH andfrom the diffusion of chlorides through the concrete. It generatesheavy maintenance and repair costs and it significantly reduces theservice life of the structures. These consequences can be avoidedwith the general or partial use of stainless steel reinforcement bars.This solution affords many advantages:
Significant reduction of the maintenance costs.Increased sustainability.Reduced service costs.Improved safety.Optimized concrete thickness.
The limited extra cost of stainless steel rebars over carbon steelrebars is quickly overcompensated for by the savings that they allowon maintenance costs.