Potential and current flow of double steel bars in concrete by 2-D BEM

Abstract

This study performs the numerical analysis of electric potentials and currents in reinforced concrete to achieve the nondestructive evaluation of corrosion using a half-cell potential measurement and polarization resistance method. Electric fields around single and double reinforcing steel bars were analyzed using a 2-D Boundary Element Method (BEM). In the half-cell potential measurement, the potential distribution in double reinforcing steel bars in concrete was represented as a singular shape rather than a circle shape. It means that the potential value inside concrete and current ratio in rebar are closely related to the size and the number of rebars. In the polarization resistance method, the polarized area of rebar is associated with the current density and current ratio.