Tag Archives: corrosion

Corrosion Testing of Oil-Based Rust Prevention Spray

Oil-based coatings can be used to enhance the corrosion resistance of metals and therefore increase their lifetime. Such oils can be applied either by spraying or by using a brush on metal substrates in their real application environments. Recently we performed an accelerated corrosion test on different oil-based coating products for our client Sia Auto Truck Studio, who were particularly interested in the performance of a spray-type oil based coating – an NHOU Rust Prevention Spray. As the name suggests, the coating can be sprayed on the substrate directly from the bottle, which creates an uniform coating. This is achieved by using a proper combination of oil viscosity and spray bottle design, which creates an expanding cone of expelled oil particles, that create a defect free coating on the metal substrate. The corrosion test was performed on 90×90 mm low carbon steel plates, that are extremely vulnerable to corrosion. For testing, the Machu test was used, which is essentially an accelerated corrosion test in an acidified salt solution with hydrogen peroxide. This test allows to obtain results already within 48 hours, which is useful for quickly gaining feedback on the performance of materials and coatings before carrying out long-term immersion or salt spray tests. As can be seen from the photo in Figure 1, the coated sample remained relatively unharmed after the test, exhibiting only a few individual sites of corrosion in the central area. Only the edge of the sample suffered damage from corrosion as it was problematic to coat for this particular test. Overall, the coating exhibited good performance and should therefore be tested further with long-term immersion and salt spray tests, electrochemical techniques and finally in real application environment.

Figure 1. Photo of low carbon steel with NHOU Rust Prevention Spray coating after Machu test (an accelerated 48 corrosion test).

Project EU53688

Over the last few years we have been actively developing corrosion monitoring systems for a variety of applications that include pipes and containers in water oil and gas industries, outdoor metal structures (e.g. roofs, oil platforms, power grid etc.) and most importantly reusable rockets and fusion reactors. The funding obtained from Enterprise Estonia (EAS) in the project EU53688 allows us to proceed with the next step, which is the commercialization of the developed technologies.

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Project: Hand-held Corrosion Monitoring Device

A large portion of the annual cost of corrosion can be attributed to the corrosion of pipes and ventilation systems. However, the corroding surface is mostly inaccessible in these conditions and therefore the detection and monitoring of corrosion for evaluating the need for possible maintenance is problematic.

Our solution to the problem is a hand-held corrosion monitoring device, that is capable of detecting the corrosion that takes place inside pipes while the measurements are done outside. We currently have a working prototype but we want to investigate also alternative approaches in order to come to the market with a user friendly product.

The development of the prototypes is funded by Captain Corrosion OÜ and Prototron.

 

Project EU51950

Description:

Assembly and programming of an electronic measurement device that allows to perform materials characterization in space on student satellite ESTCube-2. (EST: Mõõteseadme valmistamine ja programmeerimine materjaliuuringute jaoks kosmoses tudengisatelliidil ESTCube-2). This electronic device is one of the two major components in our developed corrosion testing module, which will be used to test a novel nanostructured coating and a smart radiation shielding material in LEO (Low Earth Orbit).

Funding

The preparation, programming and preliminary testing of the electronic measurement device is carried out by Hedgehog OÜ and funded by Captain Corrosion OÜ (30%) and Enterprise Estonia (70%).

Partners

ESTCube group assists us with the planning of this experiment and with the integration of our corrosion testing module to the student satellite ESTCube-2. Once the satellite is in space, we will also carry out the tests together.

Laboratory of Thin Film Technology (University of Tartu) is our main partner for assembling the test system as well as other prototypes, that will be used to test the patented nanostructured coating. With them we also carry out laboratory-based materials characterization measurements and tests.

Corrosion Testing of Materials and Coatings

Captain Corrosion recently tested the corrosion resistance of various metals and protective coatings for a client. We tested 8 different samples in 5 different environments in total and the goal was to get an overview which materials and coatings our client needs to use for specific applications. As can be seen from the table below, some coatings needed maintenance after 1000h corrosion test while others remained completely unharmed.

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How Does Radiation Cause Corrosion in Space?

How Does Radiation Cause Corrosion in Space? This is actually quite complicated as the radiation in space covers a wide spectral range and the interaction between matter and radiation depends on the wavelength (energy) of the radiation. Anyhow, radiation can be divided into two groups – ionizing and non-ionizing radiation. Non-ionizing radiation such as infrared or visible light can only damage the material if the intensity is high (e.g. laser beam). Ionizing radiation like UV-light, X-rays and gamma rays on the other hand has already enough energy to remove electrons from atoms and this degrades materials over time. In the case of high energy gamma radiation there are also other interactions possible such as the creation of electron-positron couples, compton scattering, photodisintegration and photofission. Learn more about corrosion in space by watching our new science video:

How Do Charged Particles Cause Corrosion in Space?

How and why do charged particles cause corrosion of materials in space? This is a question asked by many spacecraft engineers and the answer is not so simple. Namely, there is a whole zoo of different particles and every single one of them interacts with the matter in a unique way. The general rule however is that particles which have a higher mass, charge and velocity, cause more damage. For instance, electrons have a negative charge and in a scanning electron microscope they travel at about 20% of the speed of light but they hardly damage the studied substrate. Ions however have not only a charge but also a lot of mass and therefore they can also cause serious damage if their velocity is sufficient. A completely different story is with antimatter particles such as positrons and anti-protons. When these hit regular matter, then both the particle and the surface of regular matter is converted into energy in the form of gamma radiation. This radiation however can ionize the nearby matter and also do serious damage to electronics, which is shielded from particles but not from gamma rays. High energy radiation is also created when regular charged particles such as protons and electrons interact with the matter as the excess energy is released as braking light (bremsstrahlung), when the high velocity of the particle suddenly changes to zero upon hitting the surface of a material. Anyhow, the spacecrafts are constantly being bombarded with different particles and this slowly degrades the surface of the material and the resulting radiation also has a devastating effect on the electronics. Learn more by watching our new science video:

How Does Atomic Oxygen Cause Corrosion in Space?

Atomic oxygen is one of the leading candidates which causes the degradation of materials in space. That’s because atomic oxygen is highly reactive and will oxidize anything that can be oxidized. This means that most vulnerable to this type of corrosion are polymers, carbon fiber materials and unprotected electronics. So in order to extend the lifespan of a spacecraft, one first needs to counter the corrosion caused by atomic oxygen. This can be done by using proper materials for making the spacecrafts components and by avoiding the exposure of sensitive electronics to space.

Science Video Series About Corrosion in Space

Captain Corrosion OÜ proudly presents a three part video series about corrosion in space. These science videos were made in collaboration with the department of materials science, University Tartu and were partially funded by the “Center of Excellence” (Project TK141). Corrosion in space is actually quite relevant right now as there are more spacecrafts in the orbit than ever before and their number keeps increasing. An average spy satellite, disguised as a weather satellite, costs about 400 million euros and their lifespan is somewhat limited due to various reasons like human errors, software/hardware failure and degradation of specific spacecraft parts due to the hostile environment of space (corrosion!). This “corrosion” of materials in space however can be quite complicated as there are multiple factors that contribute to the process. In our video series we discuss some of the most important factors. The general idea of this series is to provide additional information for companies that make spacecraft component so they can better plan their devices to last as long as possible in space.

Part 1 – How Does Atomic Oxygen Cause Corrosion in Space?

Part 2 – How do Charged Particles Cause Corrosion in Space?

Part 3 – How does Radiation Cause Corrosion in Space?