Several converging forces have created opportunities for revolutionary advances in understanding and mitigating corrosion, according to a report recently released by the National Research Council. From aging infrastructure to emerging technologies, understanding the underlying causes of corrosion could have a major impact on the quality of materials in different applications, the environment, and even the economy. However, the report said, realizing these advances will require a joint effort among government agencies and departments in coordination with the research science and engineering communities.
This is an exciting time for corrosion research, according to the study, because of the convergence of three major developments: the ability to tailor the composition and structure of materials on the nano- and mesoscales, the ability to experimentally probe materials and chemical reactions in greater depth, and the ability to model more computationally intense problems than before.
Traditionally, corrosion issues have been addressed after-the-fact, when a problem has already emerged. This is largely due to gaps in knowledge about the underlying causes of corrosion, which makes it hard to predict and prevent. However, advances in tools and techniques for materials characterization (such as electro-chemical probes and microscopy) and modeling (such as molecular dynamics and multiscale modeling) have created new research opportunities that could enable scientists and engineers to proactively design materials for specific service environments.
The report identifies four grand challenges related to corrosion research, which could each have direct and immediate applications in engineering:
1. the development of cost-effective, environment-friendly, corrosion-resistant materials and coatings;
2. high-fidelity modeling for the prediction of corrosion degradation in service environments;
3. accelerated corrosion testing under controlled laboratory conditions that quantitatively correlate with the behavior observed in service environments; and
4. accurate forecasting of the remaining service time until a major repair, replacement, or overhaul becomes necessary.
To combat the effects of materials degradation, this mooring ring, shackle, and thimble with rope uses three different techniques. The ring and eye bolt was originally painted, the shackle and thimble has been galvanized (zinc coated), and the mooring line was made of nylon. Courtesy of Erik Svedberg.
According to the study, meeting these grand challenges requires a concerted effort among scientists and engineers, but the payoff could be paradigm-changing. Cost-effective methods for avoiding, mitigating, predicting, and sensing corrosion could be determined in advance for various materials in various service environments, with positive impacts on safety, maintenance and replacement costs, environmental impact, and stability.
In this age of advanced technologies that expose materials to ever-harsher environments, understanding the fundamental processes of corrosion will become even more important, according to David Duquette, the John Tod Horton Professor of Materials and Science Engineering at Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute and co-chair of the study. “Corrosion will be a major issue for advance reactors, for exploration studies for natural resources, and for things like wind turbines sitting in saline environments,” he said. “Understanding and preventing corrosion will be very important, probably in ways that we can’t even think of right now.”
The report calls for federal agencies to lead the corrosion research effort, and lays out a framework for doing so that includes opportunities for incremental advances with high return on investment and high-risk but potentially transformative projects. The framework is outlined in four recommendations:
1. Federal agencies and departments should identify the areas of corrosion research that are important to their mission. Each one should draw up a roadmap for its responsibilities, taking a cross-organizational approach and including input from industry.
2. Funding agencies should initiate programs designed to stimulate both single-investigator and collaborative team efforts, and should underwrite the costs of test laboratories open to the corrosion community and their collaborators, including industry.
3. Agencies and departments should assume responsibility for disseminating the results of their research.
4. The Office of Science and Technology Policy (OSTP) should launch a multiagency effort to encourage corrosion research. OSTP should form a multiagency committee on corrosion, with initial charges of documenting federal expenditures in this area and encouraging multiagency efforts augmented by collaboration with state government and private entities such as professional societies, industry consortia, and standards making bodies.
“Our infrastructure is falling apart,” said Duquette. Corrosion damage is affecting aging aircraft, aging transportation systems, aging military equipment, and much more. “We have to understand what those problems are and how to solve them.”
The report, Research Opportunities in Corrosion Research and Engineering, was authored by the National Materials Advisory Board from the National Academies Division on Engineering and Physical Sciences. It is available through the National Academies Press, www.nap.edu.
