The deterioration of prestressed, post-tensioned, and steel-reinforced concrete structures as a result of corrosion costs billions of dollars in repairs or replacement each year. Corrosion of concrete steel reinforcement leads to loss of strength through net section loss, delamination and spalling of concrete in parking structures, tunnels, bridges, buildings, chimneys, tanks, and pipelines.

Exponent’s corrosion engineers, electrochemists, civil, structural, and geotechnical engineers have extensive technical capabilities and experience to assist owners, engineers, developers, and insurers in designing cost effective corrosion protection of structures, determining the extent and cause of corrosion damage, predicting the remaining life, and assisting the owner in identifying and implementing the most economical options for repair or replacement.

Exponent can perform field and laboratory tests to identify corrosion or material degradation modes that could, or may occur, to reinforced or prestressed concrete structures such as stress corrosion cracking (SCC), chloride-induced pitting, sulfate attack, microbiological induced corrosion (MIC) of steel, MIC of concrete, alkali-silica reaction (ASR), hydrogen embrittlement, stray current corrosion, and carbonation-induced pH reduction, as well as soil corrosivity evaluations.  In addition, Exponent can test and evaluate metals, alloys, coatings, claddings, plastics, cement, mortar, and concrete materials for various applications under accelerated conditions in order to provide the designer or engineer with critical information regarding the expected performance of such materials under service conditions.