Electrochemical experiments have been carried out in Ca(OH)2 solutions, in mortar slabs with and without chloride addhions and on reinforcement bars at a large bridge at the coast. The study is
mainly focosed on galvanostatic pulse experiments with monitoring of potential as a function of time. Only in an initial period the electrodes behaved in agreement with an equivalent circuit with a resistor
and a capacitor in parallel. Modelling with two RC-links in seties gave good fit with the observations. However, this type of modelling leads to uncertainty about which of the RC-links are related to the
corrosion rate. It is concluded that changes at the metal surface and in the environment induced by polarisation occur with a delay with respect to the impressed current. In the modelling with equivalent circuits these effects cause capacitance and resistance not connected with the Faraday
current and the polarisation resistance. Therefore, different electrochemical methods for determination of the polarisation resistance give unacceptable divergence. How to determine the corrosion rate from electrochemical measurements for steel in concrete is finally discussed.
Keywords Corrosion measurements, concrete, steel, electrochemistry, polarisation resistance