Concrete coatings are widely used to improve durability of new structures, as well as in rehabilitation, in
order to protect reinforcement against chloride-induced corrosion. Organic and polymer modified
cementitious mortars applied on concrete surface in chloride containing environment were studied with
five year long tests. Coatings have been tested on concrete with two water/cement ratios. The effect
of the coatings on time-to-corrosion has been studied by the monitoring of the corrosion behaviour of
reinforced concrete specimens subjected to chloride ponding: corrosion potential, corrosion rate and
chloride profiles have been carried out. Results have been elaborated to estimate the chloride diffusion
coefficient of the tested coatings. Data have been used to predict the effect of the coatings on the
service life of reinforced concrete structures subjected to chloride corrosion by using analytical solution
of the 2nd Fick’s law of non-stationary diffusion derived from an analogy with heat transfer law (Fourier’s
law).
Key words: concrete coating, chloride-induced corrosion, time-to-corrosion, chloride diffusion
coefficient.