Corrosion Management System of Regional Reinforced Concrete (RC) Bridges

The deterioration of concrete infrastructure due to reinforcing steel corrosion has been recognized for several decades as a major technical and economic challenge in the United States. One particular aspect is the natural degradation of the materials forming the reinforced concrete element while in service and under environmental and climatic conditions. This rebar/concrete system has been extensively studied in laboratory but has rarely been directly inspected in field conditions. In laboratory studies, the rebar/concrete interface has been characterized and modeled. In field applications, the corrosion rate, as a kinetic concept, is not measured nor considered as a magnitude in infrastructure asset management plans. Instead, half-cell potential measurements, as a thermodynamic approach, have dominated inspection practices. The use of quantitative, meaningful parameters in the characterization and inspection of concrete bridges should inform the development of procedures for corrosion management of the concrete/rebar system. The main objective of this study is to investigate theoretical modeling that provides magnitudes of different rebar materials degradation, informed by experimental characterization and in situ measurements for corrosion rates of a bridge element (column) during service conditions. Experimental samples will be characterized and monitored to quantify the corrosion rates at the rebar/concrete interface. Different concrete characteristics will be measured/quantified in laboratory and field conditions before and while in service. With these characteristics quantified, the reliability of each element of the structure will be estimated based on the corrosion and degradation characteristics under load conditions and harsh corrosive environments.

• Record URL:
  https://transet.lsu.edu/research-in-progress/

Language

• English

Project

• Status: Completed
• Funding: $224000
• Contract Numbers:

  19STLSU10

• Sponsor Organizations:

  Office of the Assistant Secretary for Research and Technology

  University Transportation Centers Program
  Department of Transportation
  Washington, DC  United States  20590
• Managing Organizations:

  Transportation Consortium of South-Central States (Tran-SET)

  Louisiana State University
  Baton Rouge, LA  United States  70803
• Project Managers:

  Melson, Christopher

• Performing Organizations:

  Texas A&M University, College Station

  318 Jack K. Williams Administration Building
  College Station, TX  United States  77843

  Louisiana State University

  3660G Patrick F. Taylor Hall
  Civil and Environmental Engineering
  Baton Rouge, LA  United States  70803
• Principal Investigators:

  Castaneda, Homero

  Okeil, Ayman

• Start Date: 20190815
• Expected Completion Date: 20210430
• Actual Completion Date: 0
• USDOT Program: University Transportation Centers Program

Subject/Index Terms

• TRT Terms: Bridge members; Corrosion; Corrosion protection; Field studies; Laboratory tests; Monitoring; Reinforced concrete; Reinforcing bars; Reliability
• Subject Areas: Bridges and other structures; Design; Highways; Maintenance and Preservation; Materials;

Filing Info

• Accession Number: 01713227
• Record Type: Research project
• Source Agency: Transportation Consortium of South-Central States (Tran-SET)
• Contract Numbers: 19STLSU10
• Files: UTC, RIP
• Created Date: Aug 5 2019 3:52PM