Influence of Recycled Steel Impurities on Corrosion in Low Carbon Con

The majority of global infrastructure is comprised of reinforced concrete. The naturally high pH in hardened concrete produces a protective layer around steel reinforcement contributing to long-term durability. While the movement towards low carbon cementitious systems is necessary to help combat climate change, the lower starting pH of these systems can result premature corrosion of reinforced concrete. Also, as more steel products are being recycled which contain significant amounts of electronics (automobiles and appliances) the copper content in recycled steel is increasing. Typical limits for copper in reinforcing steel are 0.2% with corrosion resistant weathering steel levels allowable up to 0.5%. This research will evaluate the corrosion behavior of reinforcing steel in concrete which exceed 0.2%. Allowing higher levels of copper in steel which meet applicable strength and elongation criteria for reinforcement in concrete would increase corrosion resistance and may be an enabling strategy to allow utilization of low carbon cements without compromising durability. This would allow reservation of higher purity steel for higher strength applications while beneficially utilizing currently unallowable materials to increase the use of novel concretes.

 

Participation requires a commitment to the full ten-week program (June 2 through August 8, 2025).

Selected faculty participants will receive a weekly stipend of $1,800 for the ten-week program (paid biweekly).  Selected faculty may also be eligible to receive a $500 inbound/outbound travel reimbursement.

Deadline:  March 15, 2025

A complete application includes:

• All required fields in both the Zintellect profile and Zintellect application form, including Current Curriculum Vitae (include list of any papers, presentations, or publications)
• Two References submitted through Zintellect
• Customized learning solution abstract (150 words) showing how the proposed project will align with and be integrated into your current course load. References to one of the four FACES pillars preferred: Human Behavior (1), Community Engagement (2), Environmental Science (3), Energy Transition and Artificial Intelligence (4).  (Learning solution only requires alignment with a single course)
• Personal statement
  • Provide a personal statement indicating your interest in renewable energy research, desire to bring current research into the classroom, and any other relevant information you feel would help inform our decision.
• Submitted documents must have all personal identification numbers, and/or dates of birth removed (blanked out, blackened out, made illegible, etc.) prior to uploading into the application system.

The selected applicants will be responsible for providing the following deliverables as part of their appointment:

• Pre-Survey
• Project Summary Abstract and Presentation to the research group
• Customized Learning Solution (CLS)
• Post-Survey

The deliverables that selected applicants provide will need to include information on the eight weeks at NREL and the final two virtual weeks spent preparing for the final deliverable focusing on the Customized Learning Solution (CLS).