U.S.-Egypt Cooperative Research: Evaluation of Green Corrosion Inhibitors for Steel Reinforcement in Concrete Structures

该奖项旨在支持阿拉巴马大学伯明翰分校土木与环境工程系Fouad H. Fouad博士和埃及亚历山大大学Rafik Awad博士的一项合作研究。他们计划调查钢筋混凝土结构的腐蚀情况。氯化物引起的钢筋腐蚀损伤主要是由于暴露在海洋环境和/或在寒冷气候下使用除冰盐造成的。问题的严重性急剧增加，导致修理和更换有缺陷的结构的开支非常高（数十亿美元）。化学缓蚀剂在过去已被成功使用。拟议工作的目标是开发一种新型的“绿色”缓蚀剂（由植物来源的天然产物生产），它将保护钢铁免受腐蚀，同时对环境安全。实验项目将使用全尺寸钢筋混凝土构件来评估不同类型的“绿色”缓蚀剂的性能。知识价值：拟议活动的知识价值将包括研究和评估不同类型的“绿色”缓蚀剂，以保护钢筋免受腐蚀性环境下结构的腐蚀。对自然产生的“绿色”缓蚀剂行为的基本理解将作为本研究的一部分发展。此外，收集到的信息将通过在腐蚀性环境中使用缓蚀剂提出工程建议来提高对钢筋腐蚀的认识。这些建议将被提出，供国家具体规范组织审议。该研究的数据还将用于未来开发其他类型的缓蚀剂，并将其与现有化学缓蚀剂的性能进行比较。更广泛的影响：该项目将促进我们对钢铁腐蚀机制的理解，以及使用新型“绿色”缓蚀剂对防腐蚀的影响。增加的知识将导致钢筋混凝土结构在腐蚀环境下的性能得到改善，并显著节省成本。所提出的研究将通过延长钢筋混凝土结构的使用寿命和消除昂贵的维修来造福社会。项目的教育影响将包括研究生和本科生参与项目的所有阶段。阿拉巴马大学伯明翰分校的学生以及埃及研究所的学生将参与研究工作。学生将接触到先进的混凝土技术，并将参与理论和实验的研究计划。该项目的工作成果将在国际同行评审期刊和会议上发表，以增进科学认识。由于恶劣环境造成的混凝土结构损坏对公众、企业和经济产生重大影响，因此本项目的预期结果应导致未来的损害减轻。该项目得到了美国-埃及联合基金项目的支持，该项目向两国的科学家和工程师提供赠款，以开展这些合作活动。

0612194FouadDescription: This award is to support a cooperative research by Dr. Fouad H. Fouad, Department of Civil and Environmental Engineering, University of Alabama, Birmingham and Dr. Rafik Awad, Alexandria University Alexandria, Egypt. They plan to investigate corrosion of steel reinforced concrete structures. Chloride induced rebarcorrosion damage results mainly from exposure to marine environments and/or the use of de-icing salts in cold climates. The magnitude of the problem has increased drastically resulting in very high expenditures (billions of dollars) for repair and replacement of deficient structures. Chemical corrosion inhibitors have been used successfully in the past. The objective of the proposed work is to develop a new type of "green" corrosion inhibitor (produced from natural products of plant origin) that will protect steel against corrosion while being environmentally safe. An experimental program will be performed using full size reinforced concrete elements to assess the performance of different types of "green" corrosion inhibitors.Intellectual Merit: The intellectual merit of the proposed activity will include the study and evaluation of different types of "green" corrosion inhibitors with regards to protecting reinforcing steel against corrosion for structures subjected to aggressive corrosive environments. A fundamental understanding of the behavior of the naturally produced "green" corrosion inhibitors will be developed as part of this study. Moreover, the information gathered will be used to enhance the knowledge about reinforcing steel corrosion by virtue of making engineering recommendations regarding the use of corrosion inhibitors in aggressive environments. These recommendations will be presented and proposed for consideration by national concrete specification organizations. Data from the study will also be used for the future development other types of corrosion inhibitors as well as comparing their performance to that of existing chemical inhibitors.Broader Impacts: The project should lead to the advancement of our understanding of the steel corrosion mechanism and the impact of using new types of "green" corrosion inhibitors on protecting against corrosion. The added knowledge should lead to improved performance of reinforced concrete structures subjected to corrosive environments as well significant cost savings. The proposed research will benefit the society by extending the life of reinforced concrete structures and eliminating costly repairs. The educational impact of the project will include the involvement of graduate and undergraduate students in all the stages of the project. Students at the University of Alabama at Birmingham as well as the Egyptian institution will be involved in the research work. The students will be exposed to advances in concrete technology and will be involved in the theoretical as well as experimental programs of study. The work products of this project will be published in international peer-reviewed journals and conferences to enhance the scientific understanding. Since the damage of concrete structures due to aggressive environments significantly impacts the public, corporations, as well as the economy, the expected outcome of this project should lead to damage mitigation in the future. This project is being supported under the US-Egypt Joint Fund Program, which provides grants to scientists and engineers in both countries to carry out these cooperative activities.