Corrosion of the reinforcement is a major degradation mechanism affecting durability and safety of reinforced concrete (RC) structures. As the corrosion process starts internally, it can take years before visual damage can be noticed on the surface, resulting in an overall degraded condition and leading to large financial costs for maintenance and repair. The acoustic emission (AE) technique enables the continuous monitoring of the progress of internal cracking in a non-invasive way. However, as RC is a heterogeneous material, reliable damage detection and localization remains challenging. This paper presents extensive experimental research aiming at localizing internal damage in RC during the corrosion process. Results of corrosion damage monitoring with AE are presented and validated on three sample scales: small mortar samples (scale 1), RC prisms (scale 2), and RC beams (scale 3). For each scale, the corrosion process was accelerated by imposing a direct current. It is found that the AE technique can detect damage earlier than visual inspection. However, dedicated filtering is necessary to reliably localize AE events. Therefore, AE signals were filtered by a newly developed post-processing protocol which significantly improves the localization results. On the smallest scale, results were confirmed with 3D micro-CT imaging, whereas on scales 2 and 3, results were compared with surface crack width measurements and resulting rebar corrosion levels.
Microstructural defects in AISI 4000 series steel subjected to a 3% NaCl corrosion process.
