This article presents a brief description of the fundamental characteristics of concrete and its constituents for understanding concrete fracture surfaces. It discusses the following two types of fractures: fractures induced in the laboratory and existing (service) fractures. The article provides a discussion on how existing crack surfaces differ from induced fractures: color, hardness, luster, depth of carbonation, deposits on crack surfaces, and propagation around or through aggregates.

Construction-scale additive manufacturing, also known as construction three-dimensional printing (C3DP), has received significant attention as a technology that could transform the construction industry by offering a highly automated construction process for various applications. This article presents an overview of the current developments in C3DP as well as future prospects and discusses the technical and regulatory barriers to its widespread adoption by the construction industry. It also presents a detailed discussion on construction-scale additive manufacturing technologies.

This article discusses the concepts of quality control (QC) and quality assurance (QA), and clarifies the differences and similarities in the roles and responsibilities of QC and QA personnel. It describes the inspection procedures used to verify proper surface preparation and installation of the protective coating/lining system. Prior to beginning surface-preparation operations, many specifications will require a presurface-preparation inspection to verify the correction of fabrication defects and removal of surface contamination such as grease, oil, cutting compounds, lubricants, and chemical contaminants. When inspecting concrete prior to coating installation, three areas of concern exist: surface roughness, moisture content in concrete, and acidity/alkalinity of the surface. The article provides information on the industry standards for assessing surface cleanliness. It details postcoating application quality requirements, including measuring of dry-film thickness, assessing intercoat cleanliness, verifying minimum and maximum recoat intervals, performing holiday/pinhole detection, conducting cure/hardness testing, and assessing adhesion of the applied coating system.

This article provides information on the municipal wastewater system components such as piping, pump stations, headworks, clarifiers, aeration structures, digesters, biosolids dewatering equipment, and sludge stabilization. It explains the major corrosion damage mechanisms to which those component parts of the system are exposed. It presents useful guidelines for selecting and using protective coatings in municipal sewerage collection systems and water reclamation facilities in wastewater treatment plants. The article includes annotated flow diagrams of a wastewater collection system, wastewater treatment plants, and spreadsheets listing the most widely used generic coating systems by structure and substrate material. It concludes with a section on quality watchouts when selecting or using protective coatings in municipal wastewater systems.

This article focuses on technologies in the protective coatings field, namely, polysiloxane hybrids and related materials. Industrial maintenance topcoats, including silicone alkyds, silicone epoxies, and polysiloxanes are reviewed. The article discusses two major application areas of protective coatings, namely, architectural coatings and automotive clear coats.

This article presents information regarding the use of protective coatings in municipal potable water systems, including raw water collection and transmission, water treatment plants, and treated water distribution. It provides useful guidance for the selection and use of protective coatings in these municipal water systems. The most commonplace corrosion-damage mechanisms are highlighted. The article describes the most common materials of construction found in municipal water systems, namely, cast iron, ductile iron, carbon steel, precast concrete cylinder pipe and reinforced concrete pipe, prestressed concrete tanks, and stainless steel. It provides information on the most common generic coating systems used for new steel tanks and water storage tanks. It concludes with a discussion of quality watch-outs when selecting or using protective coatings in municipal water systems.

This article reviews the various substrates for coatings, namely, steel, cast iron, galvanized steel, aluminum, stainless steel, nonferrous metals, concrete, and wood. General guidance for surface preparation and coating selection is provided along with unique requirements for the particular substrate(s).

Polyvinylidene fluoride (PVDF)-based coatings are typically used in outdoor applications that require exceptionally high performance and excellent long-term exterior durability with little maintenance. This article provides a background of three fluoropolymers most commonly used for coatings, namely, PVDF, polyvinyl fluoride, and polytetrafluoroethylene. It focuses on general properties, polymerization, resin types, coating formulation, technology of organic coatings, coating properties, and health and related safety considerations of PVDF. The article describes the application and typical end uses of PVDF-based coatings and the opportunities for improvement in PVDF-based coatings as with all organic coatings.

This article provides a detailed discussion on the functions, applications, types, and selection criteria of exterior and interior rail coatings. It includes a discussion on the corrosivity, inspection/maintenance, and qualification of applicators/inspectors/facilities.

Polymeric floor coatings refer to flooring materials composed of multicomponent thermoset resins formulated with various fillers and pigments that are installed in situ, usually over concrete substrates. Polymeric flooring systems, specified for all industrial and commercial environments, use a variety of polymer chemistries and are constructed in a variety of methods and designs. This article provides a description of the service conditions for the polymeric flooring systems. It provides information on polymeric flooring systems, including thin-film coatings, self-leveling systems, membrane systems, broadcast systems, troweled systems, and terrazzo. The article also focuses on properties, applications, testing, and factors and requirements to be considered during the installation of polymeric floor coatings. It concludes with a discussion about coating failures, including bonding, cracking, chemical attack, and moisture that affect the polymeric floor coatings on concrete.

Air hardening steel is a type of steel that has deep hardenability and can be hardened in large sections by air cooling. This article discusses the principles of heat treatment of air-hardening steel, and describes the recommended heat treating practices for air-hardening high-strength structural steels, namely, H11 Mod, H13 steel, 300M steel, D-6A and D-6AC, and AF1410 steel. It also provides information on recommended heat treating practices for air-hardening martensitic stainless steels.

This article discusses the safety issues associated with the design and operation of thermal spray booths and spray box structures and the equipment or systems required for operating thermal spray processes. It describes the design elements necessary to mitigate sound, dust and fume, ultraviolet light, and mechanical hazards. The means selected for safeguarding personnel must be based on a formal risk assessment that meets ANSI/RIA standards. The safeguards include sensing devices, barriers, awareness signals, procedures, and training. It also provides guidelines that are intended to increase the safety awareness and the use of safety practices for gas and liquid piping and electrical equipment within thermal spray installations.

Electroslag welding (ESW) involves high energy input relative to other welding processes, resulting generally in inferior mechanical properties and specifically in lower toughness of the heat-affected zone. Electrogas welding (EGW) is a method of gas metal or flux cored arc welding, wherein an external gas is supplied to shield the arc, and molding shoes are used to confine the molten weld metal for vertical-position welding. This article describes the fundamentals, temperature relations, consumables, metallurgical and chemical reactions, and process development of ESW. The problems, quality control, and process applications of ESW and EGW are also discussed.

This article describes the major issues involved in designing systems with acceptable cold-climate corrosion performance. It discusses the methods used to control corrosion in external and internal environments. The article provides information on the various common causes of corrosion in cold climates. These include improper transportation and storage practices; improper operations and maintenance practices; and construction practices.

This article provides information on predesign surveys and the various testing procedures associated with wastewater treatment plants. These include soil testing, atmospheric testing, and hydrogen sulfide testing. The primary parameters that influence the production of sulfides within the piping system that transports the wastewater to the treatment facility are discussed. The article describes the corrosion performance of various materials in the soil, fluid, and atmospheric exposures. These include concrete, steel, ductile iron, aluminum, copper, brass, stainless steel, and coatings used for wastewater facilities.

Bridges and highways are core components of transportation system and range from pavements with earth, gravel, or stone covered by a thin bituminous surface course to a continually reinforced Portland cement concrete (PCC) roadway with or without a bituminous wear course. This article provides information on bridges and dowels and the reinforcement used in PCC roadways that suffer from corrosion. An overview is provided on the rise in awareness of the corrosion issues affecting bridges and highways. The chemistry and structure of concrete and its role as an electrolyte in promoting corrosion are also discussed. The article addresses reinforcement, including conventional, prestressed, cable stays, and corrosion-resistant reinforcement. It deals with the electrochemical methods for the inspection and corrosion control of embedded reinforcement. The article also reviews the corrosion of metal bridges and corrosion control, including the use of weathering steels and coating systems.

This article discusses the methods of pulp production, pulp processing, pulp bleaching, and paper manufacturing. It describes various types of digesters, their construction materials, the corrosion problems encountered, and methods to protect these digesters from corrosion. The article examines the corrosion problems in high-yield mechanical pulping, sulfite process, neutral sulfite semichemical pulping, chemical recovery, tall oil plants, wastewater treatment, and recovery boilers. It explains the stages of chlorine-based and nonchlorine bleaching, process water reuse for elemental chlorine-free and nonchlorine bleaching stages, selection of material for bleaching equipment, developments in oxygen bleaching, and the use of highly corrosion-resistant materials for bleach plant equipment. The article reviews the materials used in the construction of paper machine components and specific corrosion problems that affect them. It discusses the composition and corrosive nature of white water. The article also addresses the corrosion and chemical recovery associated with kraft pulping liquors.

This article discusses the generic situation of steel reacting with the environments found in structures. Two environments are specifically discussed: atmospheric and cementitious. The article describes the utility of different corrosion protection methods for atmospheric corrosion and cementitious systems. It presents examples of problems that have arisen in the corrosion performance of steel.

Portland cement concrete has low environmental impact, versatility, durability, and economy, which make it the most abundant construction material in the world. This article details the types and causes of concrete degradation. Concrete can be degraded by corrosion of reinforcing steel and other embedded metals, chlorides, carbonation, galvanic corrosion, chemical attack, alkali-aggregate reaction, abrasion, erosion, and cavitation as well as many other factors. The article addresses the durability of concrete by two approaches, namely, the prescriptive approach and the performance approach. In the former, designers specify materials, proportions, and construction methods based on fundamental principles and practices that exhibit satisfactory performance. In the latter, designers identify functional requirements such as strength, durability, and volume changes and rely on concrete producers and contractors to develop concrete mixtures to meet those requirements.

This article provides an overview of the environmental performance of the most commonly used nonmetallic materials, including elastomers, plastics, thermosetting resins, resin-matrix composites, organic coatings, concrete, refractories, and ceramics. It also discusses the applications and uses of these materials.