ASSESSING THE SUITABILITY OF SUGAR CANE BAGASSE ASH IN PREVENTING CORROSION
No Thumbnail Available
Date
2025-12-12
Authors
Journal Title
Journal ISSN
Volume Title
Publisher
Uganda Christian University
Abstract
Corrosion-related spalling is a major durability and engineering problem that reinforced concrete structures have to tackle, and this is very critical in humid tropical areas where moisture and chloride exposure are rampant causing corrosion of
steel reinforcement, the rust expands and, in doing so, it puts internal tensile pressure on the concrete cover causing it to crack and eventually detach (Moccia et al., 2021; Liu et al., 2021.) Accelerated corrosion test was carried following RILEM guidelines to simulate
extreme conditions and to observe the development of cracks using the optimum 5% SCBA mix. Concrete cylinders are cast with 12 mm steel bars embedded at the center and cured for 28 days, ensuring a concrete cover of 20–25 mm. After curing, the
specimens are partially immersed in a 3.5% NaCl solution so that only part of the concrete and steel is exposed to chloride attack. An external direct current (200–500 µA/cm²) is applied using a potentiostat, with the steel bar acting as the anode and a
stainless-steel or graphite electrode as the cathode. The study conclusively claims that sugarcane bagasse ash is a low-priced, green, and durable material for supplementing the next upgrade of concrete. Using this constituent alongside traditional methods induces advantages like cost-saving, and sustainability as it would not only eliminate expensive corrosion prevention the performance in actual exposure conditions, more long-term field studies are suggested.