Dallas Section Virtual Meeting

Topic: "The Design of Corrosion Inhibitors for Use in Reinforced Concrete"

Corrosion and material degradation costs are estimated at $300M annually in the US alone, with a large portion of that number due to reinforced concrete structures.

Reinforced concrete typically uses carbon steel to provide structural integrity to the concrete matrix. However, concrete is porous and ubiquitous in outdoor settings. Thus, salts that are added to roadways during winter months will invariably leach into the concrete structure, allowing for chloride ion attack at the surface of the carbon steel. This corrosion process produces solid products on the rebar resulting in stresses that ultimately cause catastrophic cracking in the concrete matrix, with a dramatic reduction of strength and functionality.

One strategy to address corrosion in reinforced concrete is to utilize a chemical inhibitor that can mitigate the corrosion process and, thus, extend the useable life of the concrete structure. In this work I will provide background on a computer-aided molecular design process that is currently being utilized to identify new and/or non-intuitive corrosion inhibitors for use within steel reinforced concrete.

Speaker: Donald Visco, PhD

Dr. Visco joined UA [University of Akron] in 2011 as the Associate Dean for Undergraduate Studies for the College of Engineering. He went on to serve as the Interim Dean and then Dean of the college from 2016 to 2018. Currently he is a professor in the Chemical, Biomolecular and Corrosion Engineering department. He has worked for Sandia National Laboratories, the US Navy, AlliedSignal, and Union Carbide. Dr. Visco is a Fellow with the American Society for Engineering Education and he is the Editor of Chemical Engineering Education. He is the recipient of the ASEE National Outstanding Teaching Award and the DOE Presidential Early Career Award for Science and Engineering.