Paper No.

RCC-24

Effect of ultraviolet exposure on corrosion performance of Fusion Bonded

Epoxy (FBE) coated steel rebars

Deepak Kumar Kamde and Radhakrishna G. Pillai

Department of Civil Engineering, Indian Institute of Technology Madras, Chennai, India

pillai@iitm.ac.in

ABSTRACT

The Fusion bonded epoxy (FBE) coated steel rebars are expected to prolong the corrosion
initiation and propagation time. However, the epoxy coating is prone to mechanical damage
and degradation due to long ultra violet (UV) exposure at the construction site. Exposure to
UV can degrade the coating and can significantly reduce the corrosion resistance. In India,
FBE coated rebars are generally stored at construction site for more than three months. This
paper focusses on corrosion performance of FBE coated steel rebars with and without UV
exposure. For this FBE coated rebars were exposed to sun light for two months. Three
replica of lollipop specimens with (i) pristine FBEC (FBEC – P), (ii) ultraviolet exposed
FBEC (FBEC – UV), and (iii) Uncoated steel rebars were cast and tested for a period of
about 6 months. Test using Electrochemical Impedance Spectroscopy (EIS) were conducted
on lollipop specimens. It was found that the corrosion resistance and estimated service life
was significantly reduced when FBE coated steel rebars were exposed to UV radiation. The
corrosion mechanisms were justified using micrographs.

Keywords: Fusion-Bonded-Epoxy coating, ultraviolet exposure, service life, reinforced concrete

INTRODUCTION

Chloride-induced corrosion is one of the major deterioration mechanisms for corrosion of

reinforcement in concrete structures. Organic coatings are widely used to coat the reinforcing
steel to delay the onset of corrosion. In general, these types of organic coatings provide a
physical barrier between the underlying steel and surrounding (moisture, oxygen, chlorides,
etc.). In addition, it restricts the ionic flow between anodic and cathodic areas [1-3]. Epoxy
polymers have been extensively used for various outdoor or indoor engineering applications.
Epoxy has excellent chemical and mechanical properties, such as high mechanical strength
(adhesion between materials, compressive strength) and good chemical resistance due to
cross linking [4]. However, epoxy polymer is highly sensitive to the heat, moisture, sun light
(exposure to UV), and damage due to abrasion and tensile force. Most of the engineering
applications involve exposure to these conditions and stresses. To use epoxy coating for such
applications, it can be modified based on the requirements [5, 6]. For example, the surfaces
of epoxy coatings often degrade under sunlight, moisture, oxidation, and other external
agents [7]. Stabilization of polymers can be done by using verieties, including antioxidant
and photostabilizers (TiO2, ZnO, etc.). Similarly, the addition of reactive diluent in epoxy
resin can significantly reduce the equilibrium moisture saturation [6]. Mechanical properties
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of the epoxy/polymer can be modified by controlling the curing time and dosage of nano
materials [4]. Please note that the performance of stabilizer/additive should be investigated to
decide optimum dosage before use. For example, Kahrizsangi et al. (2015) reported that
when less dosage (0.7%) of carbon black nanoparticles were mixed with epoxy to increase
the UV resistance, carbon black nanoparticle could not cover the full exposed surface area.
Therefore, resulted in increased absorption of UV radiation – leading to UV degradation of
coating; whereas, when replaced by 2.5% by weight – it resulted in improved UV resistance
[5]. Therefore, type, size, and dosage of stabilizers influence the UV resistance of the
polymers. Small size additives tend to have more UV resistance, but they agglomerate and
are difficult to disperse. However, literature are available where the small size particle can be
dispersed in epoxy resins using various additives [8]. A remarkable increase in performance
can be only achieved by the combination of both organic and inorganic UV absorbers
(Smiechowski and Lvovich 2002). These compounds can be either applied as pigments in a
binder or can be deposited as pure oxide layer from liquid or gaseous phase. Many literature
report that if proper additives are used and coated adequately, the corrosion performance of
organic coatings can be enhanced significantly [3, 9 - 10]. Fusion-bonded-epoxy (FBE)
coating is one of the most widely used organic coating in the construction industry. It may be
noted that when they are used in the construction industry, they are coated with polymer
without any pigment/additive, they are bent after coating, dragged on the construction site,
and exposed to UV radiation on site during storage and when used in construction.

FBE coated steel is meant to be used for embedding them in concrete, and are not expected to
be exposed to sun light (UV radiation). Therefore, they are coated without using any UV
absorber. However, in most cases, they are exposed to sunlight for more than two months at
construction site before using them in the construction. This may lead to premature corrosion
on FBE coated steel. McDonald (2009) reported that 5 out of 300 bridges (constructed with
FBE coated steels) faced the premature corrosion [11]. It was noted that steels used in those
5 bridges were poorly handled and stored in open atmosphere before use [11]. Recently,
many Infrastructure are constructed using FBE coated steel and these coated steels are
exposed to sun light at construction site for more than 3 months. As FBE coated steel is not
expected to be exposed to UV radiation, no research has focused to determine the effect of
exposure to UV on quality, corrosion performance, and time to corrosion initiation of FBE
coated steel embedded in cementitious system. Therefore, it is important to quantify the
effect of exposure of UV on performance of corrosion performance of FBE coated steel.

1 RESEARCH SIGNIFICANCE

Recently, many developing countries are witnessing construction boom. Unfortunately, many
constructions are happening with poor quality materials and poor applications – mainly due
to the race for fast-track construction and low quest for quality/durability among some of the
stakeholders. A few of such examples are the use of damaged FBEC and UV exposed FBE
coated steel – leading to premature corrosion. This paper provides the field and laboratory
data indicating that the use inadequate quality of FBE coated steel can lead to at least 30%
lower corrosion initiation time and significantly low propagation time. If the use of poorly
coated rebars continues, then many large scale infrastructure systems will incur high cost of
corrosion. This paper will help engineers to quantitatively estimate the service life of

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Paper No.
RCC-24

reinforced concrete structures with FBE coated steel and develop strategies to ensure the use
of quality materials and construction/maintenance practices

2 EXPERIMENTAL PROGRAM

This section is divided in to two parts (i) field investigation and (ii) to quantify the
performance of FBE coated steel with and without UV exposure.

2.1 Field investigation

In India, FBE coated steel are used in many Infrastructure. These Infrastructure are designed
for more than 100 years. To estimate the time to corrosion initiation in these structures. A 6-
year old concrete bridge located in the chloride-rich environment (within 2 km from the sea)
of a coastal city in India was considered. As a conservative practice, service life can be
considered as the corrosion initiation time, ti, which is defined as the time taken by the
chlorides to travel through the cover concrete, reach the steel rebar, and initiate the active
corrosion. The ti can be estimated by using the (i) the maximum chloride concentration at the
concrete surface (Cmax), (ii) the chloride diffusion coefficient of cover concrete (Dcl), and
(iii) the critical chloride threshold of steel-concrete interface (Clth) (here, chloride
concentration at the rebar level, and the Fick’s 2 nd law of diffusion. To obtain Cmax and Dcl,
cylindrical concrete specimens of about 90 mm diameter and 100 mm length were extracted
from a girder element and laboratory experiments were performed as per NORD NT-Build
492 and ASTM C1552. To determine the chloride concentration required to initiate the
corrosion, FBE coated steel with and without UV exposure were used to cast lollipop
specimens and laboratory study was conducted as explained below.

2.2 Effect of exposure of UV on corrosion performance of FBE coated steel

The uncoated, FBE coated rebars with and without exposure to ultraviolet radiation were cut
to 110 mm length and drilled on one side to make electrical connections. These rebars were
connected to a stainless-steel threaded rod and placed in the plastic moulds. Then, mortar
was placed in to the mould and allowed for atmospheric curing for 24 hours. Later, these
specimens were moist cured for next 14 days. Thereafter, the low viscosity epoxy coating
was applied to the lower and top part of 35 mm and 25 mm mortar, respectively in the
specimens - to restrict the exposure are to 50 mm of the embedded rebar (see Error:
Reference source not found (a)). Later, these specimens were exposed to two days wet (with
3.5 % NaCl solution) and five days dry regime. Error: Reference source not found (b) shows
the corrosion cell used for EIS technique. The test specimen (working electrode) is placed in
the center and Nichrome mesh is placed around the specimen with an approximate distance of
50 mm. Error: Reference source not found shows the photograph of Lollipop type specimen.
EIS was conducted at the end of each wet regime. The EIS curves were obtained and R p was
determined by fitting the EIS response curve with equivalent electrical circuit. Then, 1/R p
value was calculated to estimate the rate of corrosion (see Equation 1),
B
I corr=
Rp
×A ( ) (1)

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Paper No.
RCC-24

where, Icorr is the corrosion current density, B is stern – Geary constant, A is the surface area
(in cm2), and Rp is the polarization resistance. Corrosion initiation was confirmed using
statistical analysis. Then, a plot of instantaneous Rp, was generated at the end of every wet
period. A statistical procedure was followed to detect the corrosion initiation. For the
statistical analysis, the plot of 1/R p Vs. duration of exposure was considered. When five
consecutive values of 1/Rp lie within a boundary of M±1.3SD, the system was considered to
have stabilized (M - mean; SD - standard deviation). Following this stable state, if two future
readings lie above (M+3SD), corrosion is said to have initiated.

(a) (b)

Figure 1: Photograph of (a) Lollipop type specimen and (b) Linear polarization resistance test
setup
3 RESULTS AND DISCUSSIONS

Figure 2 shows the chloride profiles obtained from the cylindrical concrete cores obtained
from a 6-year old concrete cores (Kamde and Pillai 2019). Using these chloride profiles and
Fick’s law, Dcl at 6 year was estimated. Then, Dcl at 28 days was estimated to be 1.71 × 10 -
11
m2/s. Average surface chloride concentration (Cs) for the cylindrical concrete core was
found to be 1.67 %bwob.

Figure 2 Chloride profile for cylindrical concrete cores obtained from 6-year old bridge (Kamde
and Pillai 2019)

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Paper No.
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To estimate the chloride concentration required to initiate the corrosion, statistical analysis of
Rp was done. shows the relative 1/Rp measured for lollipop specimens with embedded
pristine and UV exposed FBE coated steel. Relative R p was obtained by dividing the
instantaneous Rp with the Rp obtained at the time of expected time of corrosion initiation.
The relative 1/Rp values represent the inverse of resistance offered to corrosion of steel, i.e.,
directly proportional to rate of corrosion. Therefore, corrosion was confirmed based on
statistical analysis of 1/Rp values (explained tin Section 2). The initiation of corrosion for the
FBE coated steel embedded in cementitious mortar was observed at 140±20 days of exposure
to cyclic wet (3.5% chloride) and dry exposure. On the other hand, when FBE coated steels
were exposed to UV for two months and then embedded in cementitious mortar, the initiation
of corrosion was observed at 60 ± 15 days. Therefore, it can be concluded that the exposure
to UV can significantly reduce the corrosion resistance of FBE coated steel. It was found that
the physical and chemical properties of FBE coating was significantly degraded within two
months of UV exposure to FBE coated steel.

Figure 3 Relative 1/Rp over exposure time for (a) FBEC -pristine and (b) FBEC – UV specimens

shows SEM images of the surfaces of (a) FBEC -Pristine and (b) FBEC – UV, and pictorial
representation of microcracks on coating surface after UV exposure for two months. When
FBE coating is exposed to UV, coating was degraded and microcracks were appeared on the
coating surfaces. These cracks can be surface cracks or through cracks to metal surface.
Through cracks will provide direct access of deleterious agents (moisture, oxygen, and
chlorides) and shallow cracks will reduce the path of travel for deleterious agents.

(a) FBEC – Pristine (b) FBEC – UV (c) Microcracks on FBE

coating surface after two-
months of UV exposure

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Paper No.
RCC-24

Figure 4 SE micrographs of FBE coating surfaces for (a) FBEC -P and (b) FBEC -UV

Once corrosion was found to be initiated, specimens were autopsied and mortar powder was
collected from near to the rebar. Figure 5 (a) shows the chloride concentration at rebar level
for uncoated, FBEC -D (Kamde and Pillai 2017), FBEC – UV, and FBEC – P was found to be
̴.LN(0.4, 0.02), ̴ .LN(0.22, 0.07), ̴ .LN(0.53, 0.03), and ̴ .LN(0.67, 0.03), respectively. The
chloride required to initiate corrosion in pristine FBE coated steel with and without UV
exposure was found to be significantly higher than that for the specimens with uncoated steel.
Please note that the quality of rebar used at site will be exposed to UV and damaged due to
bending and dragging them on the site. Therefore, initiation of corrosion will occur even
before it is expected in case of FBEC-UV type specimens. The chloride concentration at the
rebar level for FBEC – D type specimens was found to be 0.22 %bwoc, which is significantly
lower than that for specimens with uncoated steel rebars. Considering the reality, FBE
coating is prone to damage and therefore, an estimation of time to corrosion initiation (ti) was
performed using freely available ‘Life – 365’.

The input parameters obtained from Figure 5 (b) shows the Cumulative Distribution
Function (CDF) of ti for the girder elements. The input parameters, such as Dcl, Cmax for were
determined using standard experimental program and other input parameters are given
adjacent to the respective CDFs. ti for FBEC -D specimens was found to be 30% less than
that for specimens with uncoated steel. It should be noted that the propagation time for FBE
coated steel with UV exposure will be significantly less than that for the structures with
uncoated steel (Kamde and Pillai 2018). Therefore, the overall service life for RC structures
with UV exposed FBE coated steel is expected to be significantly less than the service life of
RC structures with uncoated steel rebar.

The corrosion mechanism for the same is illustrated in Error: Reference source not found.
Metal at some damage can act as anode and remaining can act as cathode – resulting in
crevice/moisture induced corrosion. The initiation of corrosion can be the result of crevice
corrosion. Error: Reference source not found (a) shows the coated steel surfaces of FBEC-
UV specimen with delaminated coating. It was visually observed that the coating was
significantly delaminated after the initiation of corrosion for the specimens with FBEC – UV
type of rebars. Therefore, this can be concluded that the exposure to UV can result in
accelerated under-film propagation of corrosion.

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Paper No.
RCC-24

(a) Chloride threshold (b) Time to corrosion initiation

Figure 5 Chloride concentration at rebar level at the time of corrosion initiation for uncoated,
FBEC -D, FBEC -UV, and FBEC -P specimens

(a)

(b)

Figure 6 Corrosion mechanism for FBE coated rebars embedded in concrete

4 SUMMARY AND CONCLUSIONS

Recently, many infrastructure systems (railways/highways) have been constructed using

Fusion Bonded Epoxy (FBE) coated steel rebars. These coated steels are exposed to ultra
violet radiation for more than two months during storage and construction of Infrastructure.
Lollipop specimens were cast and tested using electrochemical impedance spectroscopy to
determine the differences in the time to corrosion initiation of FBE coated steel with and
without UV exposure. Experimental results show that the exposure to UV can lead to
premature corrosion before half the corrosion initiation time for specimens with pristine FBE
coated steel. Estimation of corrosion initiation revealed that the FBE coated steel with
damaged coating will experience the premature corrosion even before the initiation of
corrosion in structures with uncoated steel. Visual inspection of corroded surfaces of steel
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Paper No.
RCC-24

specimens also indicated that when FBE coated steels are exposed to UV, the large surface
area of coating was delaminated – indicating under-film corrosion. The mechanism was
justified using the SEM images showing microcracks on the coating surface FBEC – UV
specimens.

5 ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS

The authors acknowledge the financial support (Project No. EMR/2016/003196) received
from the Department of Science and Technology, and other financial support from the MHRD
(Ministry of Human Resource Development) of the Government of India. The authors also
acknowledge assistance from the laboratory staff and students in the Construction Materials
Research Laboratory (CMRL) at the Indian Institute of Technology Madras, Chennai, India.

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All the rights belong to the author(s). The material presented and the views expressed are solely those of the author(s).
NIGIS does not own the copyright of any information presented in this paper and is not responsible for any action arising out of this publication.