Although cathodic protection (CP) has been shown to effectively control corrosion of steel in concrete, disagreement still exists regsrdlng the criteria used to test and regulate CP systems. The criteria in most common use today include 100 mV polarization decay and the E-log I technique. In this paper, experimental studies which have been
conducted to examine the effectiveness of CP criteria are reviewed, and these results are used to draw conclusions regarding the validity of the various criteria. It is concluded that the most reliable criterion is 150 mV of tidl polarization decay (or development), which will reduce corrosion to an acceptable rate, even in worst cases. For structures where corrosive conditions are not as severe, less polarization maybe satisfactory Other criteria are also reviewed, and recommendations are made regarding their application.
Keywords: concrete, corrosion, criteria, cathode, cathodic protection, polarization, reinforcing steel.