The significance of curing in the future corrosion resistance of concrete structures

Steel in contact with fresh concrete is covered by a layer of passivating oxydes due to the alkaline nature of the pore solution. The presence of oxygen plays an important role in this passivation process as well as in the corrosion one when is developped due to the ingress of aggressives, such as, chloride ions. In the present paper, results are commented on the behaviour found when oxygen is limited due to the concrete curing conditions, in a completely saturated chamber. Surprisely, the results indicate that the oxygen availability during the curing has a marked influence on the future corrosion beabieviour This allows to deduce that the mechanisms involved are not so simple as was currently accepted and that new specific tests are needed to clarify the controversial points.