MEng Materials Science and Engineering

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In this unit you will learn about how corrosion can be managed and controlled by the application of surface coatings and electrochemical methods and how economic analysis, corrosion testing and the application of standards can help in determining the most appropriate and cost-effective management solution for corrosion control.

This unit studies the factors that influence the performance of materials used in vehicles, vessels and aircraft as well as materials in the built environment on land and ofMChore.

A greater depth of the learning outcomes will be covered in the following sections:

• Knowledge and understanding
• Intellectual skills
• Practical skills
• Transferable skills and personal qualities

a.      Identify how corrosion testing, the application of industry standards and economic analysis can be used to manage corrosion and to select suitable corrosion control methods

b.       Explain the factors that influence corrosion damage in the natural environments of the sea, the soil, lakes and rivers, and in the air (the atmospheric environment).

c.       Describe methods by which protective coatings may be applied to structural materials and how their service performance may be evaluated.

d.       Explain how anodising can improve the corrosion performance of light alloys and anodic passivation that of corrosion resistant alloys.

e.       Describe the industrial application of cathodic protection giving examples; explain how calcareous films develop and evolve during cathodic protection.

a.       Interpret thermodynamic (i.e. E v. pH or Pourbaix) and/or kinetic (i.e. E v log(i) or Evans’) diagrams to summarise how cathodic protection and anodic passivation work.

b.       Employ the theory of high field ion conduction to illustrate the mechanism of anodic film formation on valve metals; recognise how pH and potential influence the formation of porous or barrier anodic films.

c.        Appraise and justify the Nguyen and Mayne mechanisms for the corrosion protection by organic coatings; defend these ideas against competing theories.

              a. Understand how the effectiveness of cathodic protection can be measured by mapping the corrosion potential of a galvanically protected structure.

a.       Analyse potential corrosion control measures for an engineering application using data from corrosion testing and select the most cost-effective using an economic analysis.

b.       Prepare a presentation to justify the most suitable option to a non-technical audience such as senior management.

Feedback given (Written and verbal).

• Book: “Principle of corrosion engineering and control”, Zaki Ahmed
• Book: “Shreirs’ Corrosion”, all relevant chapters
• Article: “Soil corrosivity in the UK: Impacts on critical infrastructure”

(www.itrc.org.uk/soil-corrosivity-in-the-uk-impacts-on-critical-infrastructure/)

• Book: “Intelligent coatings for corrosion control”, Atul Tiwari Lloyd Hihara James Rawlins
• Book: “Corrosion and its control by coatings”, Gordon Bierwagen
• Learn chemistry: “Anodising aluminium”

(www.rsc.org/learn-chemistry/resource/res00001918)

• Journal: Aircraft engineering and aerospace technology: “Anodizing of aluminium alloys” (www.emeraldinsight.com/doi/full/10.1108/00022669910270709)
• Article: “Principles of cathodic protection”, Francis (www.npl.co.uk/lmm/docs/cathodic_protection_in_practise.pdf)
• Internet resources on the collapse of highways bridge I-35W over the river Mississippi in Minneapolis
• Article: US National Bureau of Standards (NBS) reports on corrosion in soil
• Standards and testing: ISO/TC 156 Corrosion of metals and alloys (www.iso.org/committee/53264/x/catalogue/)
• Standards and testing: ASTM (www.astm.org/Standards/corrosion-and-wear-standards.html)
• Standards and testing: NACE – industry standards (www.nace.org/resources/industry-standards/)