Graduation Year

2010

Document Type

Dissertation

Degree

Ph.D.

Degree Granting Department

Civil Engineering

Major Professor

Alberto A. Sagüés, Ph.D.

Committee Member

Jeffrey A. Cunningham, Ph.D.

Committee Member

Julianne P. Harmon, Ph.D.

Committee Member

Rajan Sen, Ph.D.

Committee Member

John T. Wolan, Ph.D.

Keywords

Crack, Chloride Penetration, Impedance, Durability, Modeling

Abstract

Epoxy-coated rebar (ECR) has been used in approximately 300 Florida bridges, in an attempt to control corrosion of the substructure in the splash-evaporation zone. Early severe ECR corrosion was observed in the substructure of several Florida ECR bridges (Group 1) where the substructure was built with permeable concrete of high apparent chloride diffusivity DApp. Other ECR bridges built during the same period and having similar DApp were projected to show corrosion damage starting on the following decade. Examination of several of those bridges (Group 2) confirmed that projection. Other recently examined Florida ECR bridges (Groups 3 and 4) were built with very low to moderate permeability concrete having correspondingly low to moderate DApp values at normally sound concrete locations. Those bridges were projected not to show early corrosion at normal locations and that projection has also been confirmed. However, some incidence of thin structural cracks exists affecting a small fraction of the substructure. Chloride transport there is much faster than through the matrix in otherwise low permeability concrete and work has confirmed that early corrosion can develop there.

A predictive ECR corrosion model was applied that replicated most of the damage function features observed in the field. The model divides the substructure in separate elements with individual chloride exposure, concrete permeability, concrete rebar cover, and extent of ECR coating imperfections. Additionally, a model for projecting impact of preexisting cracking on corrosion damage was developed. The projections indicate that relatively isolated cracking should only create topical concrete damage with reduced maintenance requirements. However, model projections indicated that even though assuming that the incidence of damage is limited to a small region around the crack, if the crack orientation with respect to the rebar were adverse and chloride transport were greatly enhanced (as it could be expected in relatively wide cracks), corrosion damage from localized concrete deficiencies could significantly increase maintenance costs.

Electrochemical Impedance Spectroscopy (EIS) measurements of ECR in extracted cores showed good potential for non destructive characterization of the extent of coating damage. A possible method accounting for frequency dispersion effects in the high frequency response (of importance to assess extent of defects) was introduced.

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