Confirmation of Candidature - A Conceptual Model for Embedded Steel Corrosion Prediction in Carbon-Reduced Binder Construction Materials

The corrosion of embedded steel reinforcement causes the deterioration of reinforced concrete structures. Although the electrochemical mechanism of steel corrosion is well established, there is still no clear consensus on all the contributing factors towards the corrosion of steel embedded in concrete, especially carbon-reduced concrete. A key focus area of today's research is in the interdependence of corrosion reactions (ie. electrochemistry) and the reactive transport (ie. diffusion) in porous media. This has direct relevance to steel reinforcement in concrete structures and especially in the prediction of corrosion under actual service conditions. A greater understanding therefore is needed on the corrosion mechanism in relation to other (ie. water ingress and retention) deterioration processes. 

The proposed hypothesis of this thesis is that some deterioration mechanisms, specifically moisture ingress (and retention), plays as large of a role to predict corrosion in construction materials as other mechanisms, specifically chloride ingress. This is based on the assumption that the rapid chloride penetration test (RCPT) results are perhaps over-relied upon when it comes to the approval or rejection of a proposed construction material design (ie. a specific concrete mix design or binder type) for infrastructure projects. A high RCPT value might not imply that water/moisture or oxygen moves easily through the binder microstructure. In essence, the thesis will attempt to provide evidence in favour of the promotion of the use of geopolymers and carbon-reduced cementitious-based binders for infrastructure construction materials such as concrete.

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