Corrosion behavior of 304L stainless steel concrete reinforcement in acid rain using fly ash as corrosion inhibitor

The corrosion performance of 304L stainless steel rebars in a solution simulating concrete exposed to acid rain with the addition of fly ash was studied by means of cyclic potentiodynamic polarization. Fly ash (0-25 wt.%) was added to a concrete simulating solution. 304L rebars embedded in standard concrete cubes containing 0-25 wt.% fly ash were subjected to salt spray testing for 4 m. Tensile testing of the rebars was conducted before and after 2 m of salt spraying. Although 304L showed susceptibility to localized corrosion, the positive effect of fly ash on the corrosion behavior is clearly manifested. Fly ash content of 20 wt.% in the electrolyte led to the highest corrosion resistance. Two months of salt spraying did not affect the tensile behavior of the steel.