An Experimental Approach for Evaluating Marine Exposed Reinforced Concrete Substructures

Simulated reinforced concrete substructure element (piling) specimens were

fabricated, cured for six months and exposed partially submerged in natural

sea water.  Exposure involved, first, intermittent spraying of the above

waterline zone to simulate splash and spray and, second, electrically

connecting the embedded reinforcement to submerged bare steel bars to affect

a potential gradient from relatively negative in the submerged zone to

positive in the atmospheric as occurs in actual members. Three different

polarization levels were achieved by inserting resistors. On-potentials and

24 hrs depolarization tests were used to better understand the influence of

these polarizations on potential vs. elevation and how they affect time to

activation.