An overview of corrosion protection provided by carbon fibre reinforced polymer bonded on reinforced concrete

Summary: Reinforced concrete (RC) has been widely used in the construction for many years because of its stability, economy, and resiliently in extreme conditions. However, steel corrosion is regarded as one of the most important issues affecting the durability and stiffness/strength of RC structures. Carbon fibre reinforced polymer (CFRP) has been used as repairing and strengthening method via bonding onto RC. CFRP is now widely used due to its high corrosion resistance, high mechanical strength and ease of application on site. Meanwhile, CFRP has also been investigated recently as an anode material in the impressed current cathodic protection (ICCP) system due to its electrically conductive properties. This paper presents an overview of steel corrosion affected by parameters of CFRP bonded on RC surface and the ICCP system using CFRP as anode. Different parameters such as epoxy types, CFRP layers, exposed environment and corrosion measurements are discussed and evaluated. The possibility of CFRP using as the dual function of both anode material in ICCP system and strengthening material on RC against corrosion is examined. The current results indicate that CFRP has advantages of strengthening RC structures suffering from corrosion and improving corrosion resistivity. However, limited literature could be found with regard to steel corrosion investigation of RC structures with bonded CFRP under sustained loading. Further working on steel corrosion affected by CFRP simulated in the actual RC structures are expected and will be studied in a PhD project using electrochemical methods such as: Half-cell potential, Linear polarised resistance (LPR), and electrochemical impedance spectroscopy (EIS). The ICCP system using CFRP as the anode material is also investigated using simulations of a marine environment subject to wet-dry cycle, sustained loading, and high temperatures.