AAST Concrete Durability Assignment (1)

Faculty of Engineering Corrosion of Metals

Const. Eng. Dept. Master Degree Fall 2017

1. Define corrosion as it pertains to materials.

2. What are some of the factors that affect corrosion of metals?
3. What is a standard half-cell oxidation-reaction potential?
4. Consider a magnesium-iron galvanic cell consisting of a magnesium electrode in a
solution of 1 M MgSO4 and an iron electrode in a solution of 1 M FeSO4. Each electrode
and its electrolyte are separated by a porous wall, and the whole cell is at 25 oC. Both
electrodes are connected with a copper wire.
(a) Which electrode is the anode?
(b) Which electrode corrodes?
5. The emf of a standard Zn-Pb galvanic cell is -0.637 V if the standard half-cell emf for the
oxidation of Zn is -0.763 V, what is the standard half-cell emf of lead.
6. What is the emf with respect of the standard hydrogen electrode of a lead electrode which
is immersed in an electrolyte of 0.04 M PbCl2? (Assume the lead half-cell reaction to be
Pb Pb2+ + 2e- and its Eo = -0.162 V.)
7. One end of a copper wire is immersed in an electrolyte of 0.03 M Cu2+ ions and the other
in one of 0.002 M Cu2+ ions, with the two electrolytes being separated by a porous wall.
(a) Which end of the wire will corrode?
(b) What will be the potential difference between the two ends of the wire when it is
just immersed in the electrolytes?
8. Define the passivation of a metal or alloy. Give example of some metals and alloys which
show passivity.
9. Describe two methods by which cathodic protection can be used to protect a steel pipe
from corroding.
10. An important building near the coast of the Red Sea is being monitored for possible
reinforcement corrosion. The monitoring program consists of: visual inspection, chloride
analysis, and half cell corrosion mapping. The program is repeated every year.
1. What are the important observations that should be recorded during the visual
inspection?
2. What is chloride analysis? How a proper chloride analysis is conducted? Why are
chlorides related to steel corrosion?
3. Is it possible that the same metal (steel) has varying electrode potentials? In which
conditions?
4. The following table shows the chloride analysis results. The Table gives percent of
water soluble chloride ion content/cement weight.
Depth From Concrete Surface (mm)
Time (Years)
Zero 20 40 60
1 0.6 0.06 0.012 0.006
3 1.2 0.24 0.048 0.024
5 1.8 0.60 0.120 0.060

a) Is a 5-cm cover enough to protect the reinforcement from corrosion for 10 years?
(extrapolate the given data graphically).
 b) Was it possible to reduce the rate of chloride ion ingress inside concrete? How?
Provide a discussion of the possible procedures during the design and
construction phases.
c) The corrosion mapping of a portion of an RC slab after 15 years is as shown in
the following Table. What conclusions can be drawn from these data? (all values
are negative)

180 180 200 180 200 200 200 500 500 500 480 480

180 190 220 180 180 200 200 500 450 500 480 480

190 200 250 250 200 230 200 500 500 500 370 370

200 220 300 300 250 200 250 370 370 370 370 420

200 250 300 350 300 250 370 370 400 370 450 450

220 270 350 350 350 300 250 400 450 450 480 450

Half Cell Readings (mVolt)