Cathodic protection of steel reinforced concrete facilitated by using carbon fiber reinforced mortar or concrete

Due to the decrease in volume electrical resistivity associated with carbon fiber addition (0.35 vol.%) to concrete (embedding steel rebar), concrete containing carbon fibers and silica fume reduced by 18% the driving voltage required for cathodic protection compared to plain concrete, and by 28% compared to concrete with silica fume. Due to the decrease in resistivity associated with carbon fiber addition (1.1 vol.%) to mortar, overlay (embedding titanium wires for electrical contacts to steel reinforced concrete) in the form of mortar containing carbon fibers and latex reduced by the 10% the driving voltage required for cathodic protection, compared to plain mortar overlay. In spite of the low resistivity of mortar overlay with carbon fibers, cathodic protection required multiple metal electrical contacts embedded in the mortar at a spacing of 11 cm or less.