New Test Resources Owners that building will Resist

Corrosion
By; Jason Kolenda

Published on February 10, 2021

The study focuses on corrosion, they used the structures to test and find out if it’s
enough corrosion inhibitors are present in the concrete mix. They take an examination
about the corrosion and come up with the best solution to reinforce the structures to avoid
the corrosion and to extend the life span of the structures

By determining the nitrite level they manage to calculate and determine the
protection level that they need to apply against the corrosion. They did some test to assure
the owners that the building structures will be durable and meet their life span
requirements. Reinforcing with steel onto the concrete can cause corrosion, when the
deicing agents, oxidation from marine environments, and oxidizing agents penetrate the
concrete.

EBA Engineering, Inc., perform this test in their laboratory using a powder sample
extracted from the hardened concrete that is filtered and diluted. An aliquot of the filtrate
is treated with sulfanilic acid and N-(1-naptthyl) ethylenediamine. The aliquot absorbance
is measured in a spectrophotometer and compared against a calibration curve generated
for the laboratory-specific equipment and reagents. The concentration of the nitrite in the
hardened concrete is calculated by comparing the absorbance at 540 nm to the calibration
curve. A typical requirement for the concentration of nitrite in hardened concrete
containing a nitrite-based corrosion inhibitor is 5.1 lbs. of nitrite per cubic yard of concrete.
They recommend that their clients need to perform this test regularly during a project to
ensure that the content of nitrite-based corrosion inhibitor meets their requirements.
It conclude that by taking the right test to the subjects it can make a better outcome and
assure that the structure life span can be extended and durable against corrosion.

Reference

Jason Kolenda, PE, is vice president for geotechnical engineering and laboratory testing at
EBA Engineering, Inc. He can be reached at
443.277.1579, jason.kolenda@ebaengineering.com, or on LinkedIn.