Today, the traditional fusion-bonded epoxy (FBE) coatings used to protect carbon steel reinforcing bar (rebar) and pipe are being placed under increased scrutiny. Concerns have been raised which question the ability of such coatings to abate corrosion in the long term. Researchers have argued that a damaged, FBE coated rebar exhibits poorer corrosion performance than a comparable uncoated, black steel rebar. This reduced corrosion performance and corresponding service life is likely the result of local anodic sites which develop along the coated rebar or pipe in areas where the FBE coating has been removed due to impact or abrasion. A novel coating design has been developed, the implementation of which significantly improves the damage tolerance of epoxy coated components in a variety of high chloride environments, such as an aging concrete bridge deck. In this study, the coating was successfully applied using conventional electrostatic-spray equipment at a commercial applicator. The resulting coated rebar was able to exceed
the performance requirements of a coat-after-fabrication application in terms of cathodic delamination. This paper details the results achieved to date, as well as outlining the in-concrete test program currently underway.
Keywords: Fusion-Bonded Epoxy, FBE, ECR, FBECR, Corrosion, Concrete, Rebar, Steel, Microencapsulation, Inhibitor