Title: Characterization of FRP as an Oxygen Barrier

Author(s): Chandra Khoe, Rajan Sen and Venkat Bhethanabotla

Publication: Symposium Paper

Volume: 275

Issue:

Appears on pages(s): 1-16

Keywords: Epoxy, FRP, Concrete, Oxygen, Diffusion, Corrosion, Durability

DOI: 10.14359/51682428

Date: 3/1/2011

Abstract:
This paper presents an overview of an experimental study to determine the oxygen barrier characteristics of materials used for infrastructure repair. In the study, a new diffusion cell was developed and a quasi-steady state model used to determine oxygen permeation constants. Results obtained are in broad agreement with the limited published data available. The study found that epoxy was a better oxygen barrier than FRP, with concrete being the poorest. However, bonding FRP to a concrete surface significantly reduced its oxygen permeability. This finding explains why FRP slows down but cannot stop chloride-induced corrosion of steel in concrete. A parametric study was conducted to evaluate the performance of FRP-concrete systems for differing FRP/concrete oxygen permeability combinations. It was found that the greatest reduction in corrosion rate occurred in concretes with the highest oxygen permeability. This result makes it possible to custom design FRP-concrete corrosion repair systems.