Electrochemical Investigations of Steels in Seawater Sea Sand Concrete Environments

Experimental Study of the Flexural Performance of GFRP-Reinforced Seawater Sea Sand Concrete Beams with Built-In GFRP Tubes

The use of seawater sea sand concrete (SSSC) and fiber-reinforced polymer (FRP) has broad application prospect in island and coastal areas. However, the elastic modulus of FRP reinforcement is obviously lower than that of ordinary steel reinforcement, and the properties of SSSC are different from that of ordinary concrete, which results in a limit in the bearing capacity and stiffness of structures. In order to improve the flexural performance of FRP-reinforced SSSC beams, a novel SSSC beam with built-in glass FRP (GFRP) tubes was proposed in this study. Referring to many large-scale beam experiments, one specimen was used for one situation to illustrate the study considering costs and feasibility. Firstly, flexural performance tests of SSSC beams with GFRP tubes were conducted. Then, the effects of the GFRP tubes' height, the strength grades of concrete inside and outside the GFRP tubes, and the GFRP reinforcement ratio on the flexural behaviors of the beams were investigated. In addition, the concept of capacity reserve was proposed to assess the ductility of the beams, and the interaction between the concrete outside the GFRP tube, the GFRP tube and concrete inside the tube was discussed. Finally, the formulas for the normal section bearing capacity of beams with built-in GFRP tubes were derived and verified. Compared to the beam without GFRP tubes, under the same conditions, the ultimate bearing capacities of the SSSC beam with 80 mm, 100, and 200 mm height GFRP tubes were increased by 17.67 kN, 24.52 kN, and 144.42 kN, respectively.

Silane Coatings for Corrosion and Microbiologically Influenced Corrosion Resistance of Mild Steel: A Review

Mild steel continues to be the most extensively used construction material in several industries and constructions. However, corrosion of mild steel in aggressive environments is a major concern. Under the tremendously increasing demand for improving the coatings strategies because of the environmental concerns due to some of the traditional coatings, silane pre-treatments have been emerging as one of the effective solutions, among other strategies. Different approaches, such as adding particles of metal oxide (such as SiO₂, ZrO₂, Al₂O₃, TiO₂ and CeO₂), incorporating plant extracts and impregnating 2D materials into the coatings, have been employed for durable corrosion resistance, including for mitigating enhanced corrosion due to the presence of bacteria. This review discusses the critical mechanistic features of silane coatings such as the role of hydrolysis and condensation in the bonding of silanes with metal surfaces. The factors that influence the performance of the silane coatings for corrosion resistance of mild steel are discussed. In particular, this review provides insight into silane coatings for mitigating microbiologically influenced corrosion (MIC) of mild steel.