Corrosion Assessment in Reinforced Concrete Structures by Means of Embedded Sensors and Multivariate Analysis—Part 1: Laboratory Validation

Reinforced Concrete Structures (RCS) are a fundamental part of a country’s civil infrastructure. However, RCSs are often affected by rebar corrosion, which poses a major problem because it reduces their service life. The traditionally used inspection and management methods applied to RCSs are poorly operative. Structural Health Monitoring and Management (SHMM) by means of embedded sensors to analyse corrosion in RCSs is an emerging alternative, but one that still involves different challenges. Examples of SHMM include INESSCOM (Integrated Sensor Network for Smart Corrosion Monitoring), a tool that has already been implemented in different real-life cases. Nevertheless, work continues to upgrade it. To do so, the authors of this work consider implementing a new measurement procedure to identify the triggering agent of the corrosion process by analysing the double-layer capacitance of the sensors’ responses. This study was carried out on reinforced concrete specimens exposed for 18 months to different atmospheres. The results demonstrate the proposed measurement protocol and the multivariate analysis can differentiate the factor that triggers corrosion (chlorides or carbonation), even when the corrosion kinetics are similar. Data were validated by principal component analysis (PCA) and by the visual inspection of samples and rebars at the end of the study.