Degradation of concrete structures due to corrosion of embedded steel reinforcement is an important problem with regards to durability and safety, with great economical consequences. One method for corrosion prevention is the application of corrosion inhibitors. Corrosion inhibitors can be applied as additives to new concrete during the batching process, or surface applied to existing concrete structures. This paper gives an overview of existing sensor technologies, previews new technologies, and proposes suitable methods for corrosion monitoring and inhibitor efficiency investigation on real structures. Many different sensor technologies have been developed, and new ones are under research. Advantages and disadvantages of different corrosion determination approaches are also discussed. Half-cell reference electrodes, linear polarization sensors, localized electrochemical impedance spectroscopy sensors and macrocell current sensors are based on electrochemical principles. Non-electrochemical sensors work on physical principles such as the Hall effect, magnetic flux leakage, magnetostrictive effect, eddy currents and on light modulation (Fiber optic sensors). Fiber optic sensors have many advantages such as immunity to chemical environments, long-term stability, and the ability to make distributed measurements of severalparameters with a single sensor. However, they are underdeveloped in the field of concrete reinforcement corrosion. Fiber optic sensors can measure corrosion directly, or indirectly by measuring factors that influence the corrosion process (pH value, CI concentration, water content in concrete, CO2), and can also detect cracks due to corrosion.
Keywords: non-destructive test methods, electrochemical sensor techniques, non-electrochemical sensor techniques