Structural and Corrosion Performance of Continuous Galvanized Rebar (CGR)

Epoxy-coated bars (ECB) and hot-dip galvanized (HDG) bars are commonly used for corrosion protection of steel reinforced concrete but both these types of bars have some known deficiencies.For example, the zinc-iron layer formed at the interface between approximately 150 m (5.9 mils ) of coating and the steel bars is undesirable and causes flaking in HDG bars under bending.An emerging technology called continuous galvanizing is a simple and cost-effective process that is used to produce continuous galvanized rebar (CGR).Recent research and test results demonstrate that CGR outperforms ECB and HDG in terms of structural and corrosion performance.A smaller coating thickness of 50 m (2 mils) of CGR has proven to be better corrosion-resistant than the larger 150 m (5.9 mils) thickness of HDG and the epoxy coating of ECB.CGR is a cost-effective solution both in terms of the initial costs and life-cycle costs.Furthermore, the CGR manufacturing process is environmentally friendly compared to other coating processes.