Abstract
This study investigates anti-corrosion strategies and evaluates the service life of concrete foundations for electrified catenary systems in the Qinghai-Tibet Railway Phase I project, in China, under saline lake conditions. By combining field sampling, laboratory chloride ion content analysis (total and free chloride ion), and electrochemical testing (linear polarization resistance), the efficacy of fiberglass-reinforced polymer (FRP) sleeves in mitigating chloride ingress and reinforcing steel corrosion was systematically assessed. Results demonstrated that FRP sleeves significantly reduce chloride diffusion rates, maintaining corrosion current density below the critical threshold (0.2 μA/cm2) and stabilizing polarization resistance. A modified chloride diffusion model integrated with reliability theory predicted a 24-year service life for FRP-protected foundations. The findings validate that FRP protection, coupled with enhanced concrete strength and corrosion inhibitors, effectively counters high-salinity corrosion, providing the first quantitative validation of FRP’s long-term efficacy in hypersaline salt lakes, and establishing a reliability-based service life model adaptable to pre-contaminated concrete scenarios.
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