Development of contactless corrosion detection system

Please check whether enrolling in this project is possible by directly contacting the responsible supervisor(s) indicated below as soon as possible. Note that although we announce many topics, we won't be able to offer all of them simultaneously due to limited lab capacity.

A considerable number of structures in Switzerland were built between 1950 and 1970. These structures must be inspected to ensure their durability and their safety. The most common degradation mechanism for reinforced concrete (RC) is corrosion. Nowadays, a common technology used to monitor the corrosion conditions of RC structures involves manual and repetitive work (e.g., half-cell potential mapping). Therefore, there is a necessity to find an automated and possibly contactless method to perform electrochemical measurements. Currently, the concept of a contactless corrosion detection system and a related first prototype is available in our research group. This thesis provides an opportunity to contribute to the further development and refinement of this innovative, contactless measurement technology.

Your task is to evaluate the feasibility of applying various electrical and electrochemical techniques, such as resistance measurements and galvanostatic pulse, using the existing prototype of a contactless corrosion detection system. You will compare the outcomes with those obtained through traditional applications of electrical and electrochemical methods.

The long-term goal of this project is to improve the new technology for corrosion inspection of RC structures in order to make them more time-effective and cost-efficient for application in engineering practice.

Figure 1: Development of a concept of contactless corrosion inspection for reinforced concrete structures.