2020/06/24 by Deepak K. Kamde, Radhakrishna G. Pillai · 1 citation
Engineering · Materials Science · #Concrete Corrosion and Durability #Corrosion Behavior and Inhibition #Infrastructure Maintenance and Monitoring
paper · doi:10.5006/3588
crossref issued 2020/06/24 · crossref published 2020/06/24 · crossref published-online 2020/06/24 · openalex publication_date 2020/06/24 · crossref created 2020/06/25 · crossref published-print 2020/09/01 · crossref deposited 2025/03/18 · openalex created_date 2025/10/10 · crossref indexed 2026/07/27 · openalex updated_date 2026/07/30
Currently, highway/railway bridges are designed for the service life of more than 100 y. In such reinforced concrete structures, fusion-bonded epoxy (FBE) coated steel rebars are being used in anticipation of delayed initiation of reinforcement corrosion. However, the FBE steel rebars get exposed to sunlight/ultraviolet rays during prolonged storage and delayed/staged construction. This paper presents microanalytical and electrochemical data (Fourier transform infrared spectroscopy, scanning electron microscopy, energy dispersion x-ray diffraction, and electrochemical impedance spectroscopy) and shows the adverse effects of sunlight/UV exposure on the corrosion resistance of FBE-coated steel reinforcement in concrete construction. Based on tests on steel-mortar specimens, the mechanisms of UV-induced chemical changes, shrinkage, and cracking of FBE coating, and the resulting steel corrosion mechanisms are proposed. Also, the adverse effects of sunlight/UV exposure on chloride threshold and reduction in the service life of FBE-coated steel in cementitious systems are presented. The paper recommends to minimize the exposure of FBE-coated steel rebars to sunlight/UV rays to less than one month.