Long-term Field Corrosion Monitoring in Supporting Structures of China Xiamen Xiangan Subsea Tunnel

doi:10.1007/s40195-017-0552-0

Abstract

Abstract:

Xiamen Xiangan Subsea Tunnel is the first undersea tunnel constructed in China. It has become the major undersea pathway connecting Xiamen Island and Xiangan District since its operation in 2010. The total length is 6.05 km with the undersea length of 4.2 km. In an effort to onsite-monitor reinforcement corrosion in concrete structures, the commercially available CorroWatch multiprobe sensors and ERE-20 reference electrodes were pre-embedded in the selected locations and positions of supporting structures during the tunnel constructions. The real-time data have been collected annually by onsite measurements for 6 years. In this paper, the feasibility of the onsite corrosion monitoring system and suitability of the measured parameters including corrosion current, potential and temperature are discussed based on the preliminary results. The measured typical cyclic-type variations in corrosion current and temperature with monitoring time might be related to the seasonal changes during the annual routine measurements. The widely scattered corrosion potentials that are fluctuated complicatedly reflected localized differences in the vicinity of rebar and concrete. These findings, along with the progressively ongoing research, will provide valuable information in structural durability for service life prediction of reinforced concrete structures exposed to marine environments.

Key words: Corrosion monitor, Corrosion current, Corrosion behavior, Sensors

Chao-Yang Gong, Xiao-Yong He, Yong-Wei Li, Si-Zhe He, Xuan Cheng, Liu-Ying Huang, Ying Zhang, Jiu-Bin Chen, Shao-Hui Xu, Jian-Bin Zhang, Chao Zeng. Long-term Field Corrosion Monitoring in Supporting Structures of China Xiamen Xiangan Subsea Tunnel[J]. Acta Metallurgica Sinica (English Letters), 2017, 30(4): 399-408.

Figures/Tables 10

Fig. 1 Schematic representations of three onsite corrosion monitoring locations selected in the supporting structures of Xiamen Xiangan Subsea Tunnel. a Side view; b top view

Fig. 2 Positions and directions of the sensor embedment in the monitoring section. Sensor positions: 1 vault; 2 left; 3 right; sensor directions: A-C-E: faced to tunnel; B-D-F: opposite to tunnel

Fig. 3 Photographs showing the field installations of CorroWatch sensor and ERE-20 reference electrode a, b, the CorroWatch sensor consisting of four anodes and one ring cathode c

Fig. 4 Typical corrosion currents and potentials obtained from the onsite measurements by means of CorroWatch sensors at the same location of Enter I-A. a, b Screenshots on September 26, 2008; c, d plots on June 5, 2016

Fig. 5 Typical real-time corrosion currents a, c and potentials b, d measured for the first 20 points on February 28, 2016 at different locations. a, b Enter II-A; c, d Exit-C. The insets in a, c are the Icorr(1-3) responses at an enlarged scale

Fig. 6 Real-time corrosion data for the locations of Enter I-A a, a′ Enter I-B b, b′

Fig. 7 Real-time corrosion data for the locations of Enter II-A a, a′ Enter II-B b, b′

Fig. 8 Real-time corrosion data for the locations of Exit-A a, a′ Exit-B b, b′

Fig. 9 Real-time Icorr(1) a, a′ Ecorr(1) b, b′ as a function of monitoring time

Fig. 10 Variation of Tcorr with the monitoring time at different locations and positions

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