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.
