A review of chloride-induced steel corrosion in coastal reinforced concrete structures: Influence of micro-climate

Chandra Sekhar Das; Haibing Zheng; Jian-Guo Dai

doi:10.1016/j.oceaneng.2025.120794

A review of chloride-induced steel corrosion in coastal reinforced concrete structures: Influence of micro-climate

Chandra Sekhar Das
, Haibing Zheng^*
, Jian-Guo Dai^*

^*Corresponding author for this work

Department of Architecture and Civil Engineering

Research output: Journal Publications and Reviews › RGC 21 - Publication in refereed journal › peer-review

59 Citations (Scopus)

Abstract

The corrosion initiation by chlorides for reinforced concrete (RC) structures is influenced by the nature of chloride transport through concrete and the chloride threshold. These two properties vary with the chloride exposure conditions and concrete properties. Since most lab-scale experiments are conducted for isolated exposure cases under controlled conditions, the coupling effect of micro-climate, such as temperature, wind features, carbon dioxide ingress, wet/dry cycle durations, and rainfall, on corrosion initiation is not thoroughly discussed. This review addresses the role of micro-climate in both chloride transport and chloride threshold for corrosion initiation in different marine exposure zones. The mechanism of coupled interactions and the influence of concrete mixes are discussed. The review emphasises the need to standardize chloride-induced corrosion experiments that consider micro-climate conditions to ensure the comparability of data. A limited understanding of chloride-induced steel corrosion risk is evident in alternative binders that have recently been developed. Finally, the review provides future research directions to clarify some coupled interactions that have not been well understood. © 2025 Elsevier Ltd

Original language	English
Article number	120794
Journal	Ocean Engineering
Volume	325
Online published	2 Mar 2025
DOIs	https://doi.org/10.1016/j.oceaneng.2025.120794
Publication status	Published - 1 May 2025

Funding

The authors would like to thank Guangdong Province R&D Plan for Key Areas (Project code: 2019B111107002) and the Hong Kong Research Grants Council - Theme-based Research Scheme (Project code: T22-5-2/18-R) for the financial support of this research project. The authors are grateful for the financial support provided by the startup funding of City University of Hong Kong “Advanced Functional Construction Materials (AFCM) for Sustainable Built Environment” (Project Code: 9380165) and the Hong Kong Innovation and Technology Fund (Project Code: GHP/144/21GD). The first author acknowledges the PhD studentship offered by The Hong Kong Polytechnic Unicersity. The second author acknowledges the support of National Natural Science Foundation of China (52308247). The authors thank Professor Robert Melchers of The University of Newcastle for his valuable suggestions and discussions.

Research Keywords

Chloride threshold
Chloride transport
Micro-climate
Reinforced concrete
Steel corrosion

RGC Funding Information

RGC-funded

ESI Highly Cited Papers

Highly Cited Paper 2026

ESI Highly Cited Paper Designation Date(s)

20260108
20260312
20260709
20260923

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10.1016/j.oceaneng.2025.120794

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title = "A review of chloride-induced steel corrosion in coastal reinforced concrete structures: Influence of micro-climate",

abstract = "The corrosion initiation by chlorides for reinforced concrete (RC) structures is influenced by the nature of chloride transport through concrete and the chloride threshold. These two properties vary with the chloride exposure conditions and concrete properties. Since most lab-scale experiments are conducted for isolated exposure cases under controlled conditions, the coupling effect of micro-climate, such as temperature, wind features, carbon dioxide ingress, wet/dry cycle durations, and rainfall, on corrosion initiation is not thoroughly discussed. This review addresses the role of micro-climate in both chloride transport and chloride threshold for corrosion initiation in different marine exposure zones. The mechanism of coupled interactions and the influence of concrete mixes are discussed. The review emphasises the need to standardize chloride-induced corrosion experiments that consider micro-climate conditions to ensure the comparability of data. A limited understanding of chloride-induced steel corrosion risk is evident in alternative binders that have recently been developed. Finally, the review provides future research directions to clarify some coupled interactions that have not been well understood. {\textcopyright} 2025 Elsevier Ltd",

keywords = "Chloride threshold, Chloride transport, Micro-climate, Reinforced concrete, Steel corrosion",

author = "Das, \{Chandra Sekhar\} and Haibing Zheng and Jian-Guo Dai",

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T2 - Influence of micro-climate

AU - Das, Chandra Sekhar

AU - Zheng, Haibing

AU - Dai, Jian-Guo

PY - 2025/5/1

Y1 - 2025/5/1

N2 - The corrosion initiation by chlorides for reinforced concrete (RC) structures is influenced by the nature of chloride transport through concrete and the chloride threshold. These two properties vary with the chloride exposure conditions and concrete properties. Since most lab-scale experiments are conducted for isolated exposure cases under controlled conditions, the coupling effect of micro-climate, such as temperature, wind features, carbon dioxide ingress, wet/dry cycle durations, and rainfall, on corrosion initiation is not thoroughly discussed. This review addresses the role of micro-climate in both chloride transport and chloride threshold for corrosion initiation in different marine exposure zones. The mechanism of coupled interactions and the influence of concrete mixes are discussed. The review emphasises the need to standardize chloride-induced corrosion experiments that consider micro-climate conditions to ensure the comparability of data. A limited understanding of chloride-induced steel corrosion risk is evident in alternative binders that have recently been developed. Finally, the review provides future research directions to clarify some coupled interactions that have not been well understood. © 2025 Elsevier Ltd

AB - The corrosion initiation by chlorides for reinforced concrete (RC) structures is influenced by the nature of chloride transport through concrete and the chloride threshold. These two properties vary with the chloride exposure conditions and concrete properties. Since most lab-scale experiments are conducted for isolated exposure cases under controlled conditions, the coupling effect of micro-climate, such as temperature, wind features, carbon dioxide ingress, wet/dry cycle durations, and rainfall, on corrosion initiation is not thoroughly discussed. This review addresses the role of micro-climate in both chloride transport and chloride threshold for corrosion initiation in different marine exposure zones. The mechanism of coupled interactions and the influence of concrete mixes are discussed. The review emphasises the need to standardize chloride-induced corrosion experiments that consider micro-climate conditions to ensure the comparability of data. A limited understanding of chloride-induced steel corrosion risk is evident in alternative binders that have recently been developed. Finally, the review provides future research directions to clarify some coupled interactions that have not been well understood. © 2025 Elsevier Ltd

KW - Chloride threshold

KW - Chloride transport

KW - Micro-climate

KW - Reinforced concrete

KW - Steel corrosion

UR - https://www.scopus.com/pages/publications/85218903678

UR - https://www.scopus.com/pages/publications/85218903678#tab=impact

U2 - 10.1016/j.oceaneng.2025.120794

DO - 10.1016/j.oceaneng.2025.120794

M3 - RGC 21 - Publication in refereed journal

SN - 0029-8018

VL - 325

JO - Ocean Engineering

JF - Ocean Engineering

M1 - 120794

ER -

A review of chloride-induced steel corrosion in coastal reinforced concrete structures: Influence of micro-climate

Abstract

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Research Keywords

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ESI Highly Cited Paper Designation Date(s)

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