An Investigation on the Corrosivity Rate of Typical Nigerian made Plain Carbon Steel Reinforcement Rods in a Saline Environment

Abstract

In this work, an investigation of the corrosivity rate of typical Nigerian made plain carbon steel reinforcement rods was carried out in a saline environment.  Four samples of locally manufactured plain carbon steel gotten from four different steel companies located in Asaba and Lagos, Nigeria respectively were used. Each of the samples was cut into four and a total of 16 specimen was used for the experiment. Since the experiment was done in a controlled environment, water from Onne sea-port flt Port-Harcourt, Nigeria was used due to its high salinity. The Plain carbon steel was immersed in the saline water and monitored using the weight loss method at the interval of 10 days, also the electrode potential was monitored at the interval of 5 days using zinc as a reference electrode. This lasted for a period of sixty (60) days for both methods. The results obtained reflects the changes and differences of the samples’ corrosion behavior during exposure in the saline water and they respond directly to the influence of saline environmental factors on the corrosion behaviours, especially the influence of temperature.