Electrical Resistivity Measurement of Concrete - Wikipedia - PDF (NON CONTACT

11/12/2019 Electrical resistivity measurement of concrete - Wikipedia
Electrical resistivity measurement of

concrete
Concrete electrical resistivity can be obtained by applying a current into the concrete and measuring the response
voltage. There are different methods for measuring concrete resistivity.
Contents
Laboratory methods
Two electrodes
Four electrodes
Transformer method
On-site methods
Four probes
Rebar
Relation to corrosion
Standards
See also
References
Bibliography
Categories
Laboratory methods
Two electrodes
Concrete electrical resistance can be measured by applying a current using two electrodes attached to the ends of a
uniform cross-section specimen. Electrical resistivity is obtained from the equation:[1]
R is the electrical resistance of the specimen, the ratio of voltage to current (measured in ohms,
Ω)
is the length of the piece of material (measured in metres, m)
A is the cross-sectional area of the specimen (measured in square metres, m²).
This method suffers from the disadvantage that contact resistance can significantly add to the measured resistance
causing inaccuracy. Conductive gels are used to improve the contact of the electrodes with the sample.[2]
Four electrodes
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Electrical_resistivity_measurement_of_concrete 1/4
The problem of contact resistance can be overcome by using four electrodes. The two end electrodes are used to inject
current as before, but the voltage is measured between the two inner electrodes. The effective length of the sample being
measured is the distance between the two inner electrodes. Modern voltage meters draw very little current so there is no
significant current through the voltage electrodes and hence no voltage drop across the contact resistances.[3]
Transformer method
In this method a transformer is used to measure resistivity without any direct contact with the specimen. The transformer
consists of a primary coil which energises the circuit with an AC voltage and a secondary which is formed by a toroid of the
concrete sample. The current in the sample is detected by a current coil wound around a section of the toroid (a current
transformer). This method is good for measuring the setting properties of concrete, its hydration and strength. Wet
concrete has a resistivity of around 1 Ω-m which progressively increases as the cement sets.[4]
On-site methods
Four probes
On-site electrical resistivity of concrete is commonly measured using four probes in a Wenner array. The reason for using
four probes is the same as in the laboratory method - to overcome contact errors. In this method four equally spaced
probes are applied to the specimen in a line. The two outer probes induce the current to the specimen and the two inner
electrodes measure the resulting potential drop. The probes are all applied to the same surface of the specimen and the
method is consequently suitable for measuring the resistivity of bulk concrete in situ.[5]
The resistivity is given by:
V is the voltage measured between the inner two probes (measured in volts, V)
I is the current injected in the two outer probes (measured in amps, A)
a is the equal distance of the probes (measured in metres, m).
Rebar
The presence of rebars disturbs electrical resistivity measurement as they conduct current much better than the
surrounding concrete. This is particularly the case when the concrete cover depth is less than 30 mm. In order to minimize
the effect, placing the electrodes above a rebar is usually avoided, or if unavoidable, then they are placed perpendicular to
the rebar.
However, measurement of the resistance between a rebar and a single probe at the concrete surface is sometimes done in
conjunction with electrochemical measurements. Resistivity strongly affects corrosion rates and electrochemical
measurements require an electrical connection to the rebar. It is convenient to make a resistance measurement with the
same connection.[3]
The resistivity is given by:
R is the measured resistance,

D is the diameter of the surface probe.
Relation to corrosion
Corrosion is an electro-chemical process. The rate of flow of the ions between the anode and cathode areas, and therefore
the rate at which corrosion can occur, is affected by the resistivity of the concrete.[6] To measure the electrical resistivity of
the concrete a current is applied to the two outer probes and the potential difference is measured between the two inner
probes. Empirical tests have arrived at the following threshold values which can be used to determine the likelihood of
corrosion.
• When ρ ≥ 120 Ω-m corrosion is unlikely

• When ρ = 80 to 120 Ω-m corrosion is possible
• When ρ ≤ 80 Ω-m corrosion is fairly certain
These values have to be used cautiously as there is strong evidence that chloride diffusion and surface electrical resistivity
is dependent on other factors such as mix composition and age.[7] The electrical resistivity of the concrete cover layer
decreases due to:[8]
Increasing concrete water content

Increasing concrete porosity
Increasing temperature
Increasing chloride content
Decreasing carbonatation depth
When the electrical resistivity of the concrete is low, the rate of corrosion increases. When the electrical resistivity is high,
e.g. in case of dry and carbonatated concrete, the rate of corrosion decreases.
Standards
ASTM Standard C1202-10: Standard Test Method for Electrical Indication of Concrete's Ability to Resist Chloride Ion
Penetration
AASHTO TP 95 (2011), “Standard Test Method for Surface Resistivity of Concrete’s Ability to Resist Chloride Ion
Penetration.” American Association of State Highway and Transportation Officials, Washington, D.C., U.S.A
AASHTO Designation: T 358-151 ,Surface Resistivity Indication of Concrete’s Ability to Resist Chloride Ion
Penetration
See also
Concrete degradation
Cover meter
Impedance spectroscopy
Induced polarization (IP)
References
1. McCarter et al., 2009
2. Lataste, pp.79-80
3. Lataste, p.80
4. Li et al., pp.103-105.
5. Rendall et al., pp.74-76
6. J.P. Broomfield, “Corrosion of Steel in Concrete: Understanding, investigation and repair”,Spoon Press (2003).
7. Kessler, Powers, Vivas, Paredes, Virmani, Surface Resistivity as an Indicator of Concrete Chloride Penetration
Resistance (http://concreteresistivity.com/Surface%20Resistivity.pdf) Archived (https://web.archive.org/web/20150823
232327/http://www.concreteresistivity.com/Surface%20Resistivity.pdf) 2015-08-23 at the Wayback Machine, 2008
CBC.
8. A.M. Neville, “Properties of Concrete”,Pearson Education Limited (2006).
Bibliography
McCarter W. J., Starrs G., Kandasami S., Jones R., Chrisp M., "Electrode configurations for resistivity measurements
on concrete" (https://www.concrete.org/publications/internationalconcreteabstractsportal.aspx?m=details&ID=56550),
ACI Materials Journal, Vol. 106, No. 3, 2009, pp. 258-264.
McCarter, W J; Taha, H M; Suryanto, B; Starrs, G. "Two-point concrete resistivity measurements: interfacial
phenomena at the electrode–concrete contact zone" (https://researchportal.hw.ac.uk/files/8954403/MST_2015_AAM.
pdf) (PDF). Measurement Science and Technology. 26 (8). doi:10.1088/0957-0233/26/8/085007 (https://doi.org/10.10
88%2F0957-0233%2F26%2F8%2F085007).
Frank Rendell, Raoul Jauberthie, Mike Grantham, Deteriorated Concrete: Inspection and Physicochemical Analysis,
Thomas Telford, 2002 ISBN 0-7277-3119-X.
Lataste, Jean-François, "Electrical resistivity measurement", in Non-Destructive Assessment of Concrete Structures,
pp.77-85, Springer, 2012 ISBN 9400727356.
Zongjin Li, Christopher Leung, Yunping Xi, Structural Renovation in Concrete, Taylor & Francis, 2009 ISBN 0-415-
42371-6.
Categories
Nondestructive testing
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11/12/2019 Electrical resistivity measurement of concrete - Wikipedia

Electrical resistivity measurement of

The resistivity is given by:

The resistivity is given by:

R is the measured resistance,

D is the diameter of the surface probe.

• When ρ ≥ 120 Ω-m corrosion is unlikely

Increasing concrete water content

Retrieved from "https://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?

This page was last edited on 5 August 2019, at 15:38 (UTC).

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