Abstract
Premature deterioration of concrete buildings and infrastructure due to corrosion of reinforcement is a severe challenge, both technically and economically. In recent years there
has been an increasing interest in applying stainless steel reinforcement in concrete structures to combat the durability problems associated with chloride ingress.
This state-of-the-art report gives a brief overview of mechanical as well as corrosion properties of different types of stainless steel reinforcement. The review includes also a
discussion of practical and economical application of stainless steel reinforcement in concrete structures. It may be concluded that designing structures with stainless steel
reinforcement may in principle be performed by a simple replacement of ordinary carbon steel reinforcement with stainless steel reinforcement in the ratio 1:1 as the structural
properties are about the same regarding strength and ductility. Stainless steel reinforcement can be combined with carbon steel cast into concrete with minimal risks of galvanic
corrosion due to bi-metal - or galvanic - action. In fact, this is the precondition for general economical application of stainless steel reinforcement used only in the parts of the structure
where this protection is needed, - so-called selective use.