Corrosion of steel reinforcement in concrete exposed to chloride containing environments is a serious problem in civil engineering practice. Electrochemical methods, e.g., potential mapping, provide information whether the steel reinforcement is still passive or depassivation has been initiated. By applying such techniques no information on the type of corrosion, its extent and distribution of corrosion products is available. Particular the corrosion progress is a significant problem. Especially in the case of macrocell corrosion in reinforced concrete structures, the development at the anode cannot be separated into corrosion damage resulting from macrocell corrosion or self-corrosion. Until now also in laboratory tests it is impossible to collect such information without destroying specimens after electrochemical testing was performed. To overcome this problem it was tried to study the steel surface within the mortar specimens by X-ray tomography (CT). Within the scope of these investigations it could be shown, that X-ray tomography is suitable to make corrosion pits and their development visible which are embedded in a mortar with a cover thickness of about 35 mm. In this publication the time-dependent corrosion damage of reinforced steel is documented by X-ray tomography.
Investigations of corrosion on small cathodes in reinforced concrete - observations and suggestions
(2009)
Corrosion of steel reinforcement in concrete exposed to chloride containing environments is a serious
problem in civil engineering practice. The standards and guidelines contain only minimum
requirements regarding concrete quality and concrete cover. In very critical cases, for example the
ingress of chlorides, the application of different coatings is currently the only possibility to protect the
reinforced concrete structures. In this case the modelling of reinforcement corrosion would be more
practical. One sub-project of a DFG-research project (FOR 537) is currently performed at the Federal
Institute for Materials Research and Testing (BAM). Aim of the sub-project is the description of
corrosion propagation and the characterization of the corrosion on specimens with small cathodes by
electrochemical parameters. The electrochemical parameters are determined by suitable
electrochemical measurements, considering concrete parameters as well as different environmental
conditions.
Corrosion of steel reinforcement in concrete exposed to chloride containing
environments is a serious problem in civil engineering practice. Electrochemical
methods, e.g. potential mapping, provide information whether the steel reinforcement
is still passive or depassivation has been initiated. By applying such techniques no
information on the type of corrosion, its extent and distribution of corrosion products
is available. Particular the corrosion progress is a significant problem. Especially in
the case of element corrosion in reinforced concrete structures, the development at
the anode can not be separated into corrosion damage causing by element corrosion
or self-corrosion. Until now also in laboratory tests it is impossible to collect such
information without destroying specimens after electrochemical testing was
performed place. To overcome this problem it was tried to study the steel surface
within the mortar specimens by X-ray tomography (CT). Within the scope of these
investigations it could be shown, that X-ray tomography is suitable to make corrosion
pits visible which are embedded in a mortar with a cover thickness of about 35 mm.
In this publication the corrosion damage of reinforced steel is documented timedependent
by X-ray tomography.
Algorithms were developed to approximate the 3-dimensional internal packing density distributions of fibrous filter media at different levels of detail and complexity. Each algorithm uses certain input information derived from X-ray tomographic data of filter samples.
Algorithm 1 creates a binary media structure consisting of the true (i.e. tomographically determined) void distribution plus regions of uniform packing density. The average packing density of the media is maintained constant. Algorithm 2 creates a model fibrous structure of straight fibres of equal diameter and random length positioned randomly in space, while maintaining the true (i.e. tomographically determined) fibre orientation distribution. The number and length of the fibres on average adds up to the packing density of the filter. The model fibrous structure is recreated by a stationary Poisson process of convex bodies. Algorithm 3 distributes pores of random size and location within a homogeneous matrix, such that the average packing density again coincides with the true (i.e. tomographically determined) packing density. This algorithm is also based on a stationary Poisson process of convex bodies.
The capability of each algorithm to recreate the essential structural features of the media was tested against 'reality' by computing the respective overall pressure drop of the filter as well as the velocity distribution in the filter interior, and comparing with the results obtained for the 'true' packing density distribution of a sample measured by tomography. Compared to the assumption of a completely homogenous filter (which gives roughly 2 times the actual Δp), all algorithms are closer to reality. The binary algorithm deviates in Δp by a factor of 1.8; algorithm 3 comes within a factor of 1.6 of the true Δp. The best approximation is by algorithm 2 which narrows the difference in Δp to a factor of 1.4.
By means of synchrotron X-ray computed tomography, model composites consisting of silica and styrenebutadiene rubber were studied with a very high spatial resolution. By our analysis technique we were able to determine the nano- and micro dispersion from the experimental results by our numerical analysis. These results are discussed with respect to crucial advantages of the generically 3-dimensional tomography technique as compared to 2-dimensional methods. Our quantitative analysis of the 3d images demonstrates that in the case of our model composites the filler dispersion is good, independent on the filler concentration. Our new 3-dimensional results evidence that considering only 2-d pictures may lead to ambiguities that can lead to wrong conclusions.
We present a modified aluminium casting which is especially suited as test piece for measuring casting defects and the geometry by means of cone-beam micro-focus X-ray systems, and which may become a reference standard for dimensional measurements and defect detection.
To obtain a test piece with inner geometries measured by tactile means, we divided a small aluminium cylinder head into four pieces in such a way that most inner surfaces can be reached with a tactile probe. Reference geometries (spheres and cylinders) were applied to define a coordinate system for aligning the measurements in the disassembled and re-assembled state. The four pieces were re-assembled after the tactile measurement.
The test piece also contains casting defects. In order to be able to use the assembled cylinder head as reference sample for defect detection, measurements with higher spatial resolution and better signal-to-noise ratio were performed on the single parts. For improving the reliability of the reference measurements, CT measurements of each part were carried out in three different orientations, and the individual defect detections were combined to obtain a reference data set with a high probability of defect detection and a low rate of erroneous detections.
A new method for comparing the defect detection in a CT measurement to a reference data set is demonstrated, which provides individual information on every detected flaw.
We discuss the results of measurements in the assembled state with respect to the reference data for flaw detection.