Welcome to the mid-December Corrosionpedia News Roundup! For this roundup, we first take a look at a gas station that had such bad corrosion that its canopy collapsed on cars and customers. Among other stories, a Danish university is developing an exciting new corrosion monitoring device, and registration for one of the largest coating conferences of the year has opened.
Corrosion May Have Caused Gas Station in New York to Collapse
A gas station in the town of Cicero, New York recently had its metal canopy collapse on top of several vehicles and people. Luckily, the collapse did not injure anyone seriously, although several cars were damaged. According to officials, severe rust was found on the canopy's supports. The corrosion of the support material and the weight of snow on top of the canopy likely caused the material failure to occur. While inspections are routinely carried out at the gas station, they typically did not involve an exhaustive structural inspection.
New Regulation Increases Corrosion Risks
A new mandate by the International Maritime Organization will lower the allowable sulfur content for marine fuel to 0.5% mass by mass sulfur. This is roughly an 85% reduction in the current allowable limit. The intention of the mandate is to reduce sulfur dioxide emissions that are known to cause pollution. However, the reduction in sulfur will have an unintended impact on the corrosion resistance of the ships that adhere to the new fuel requirement because one of the most common ways to reduce the sulfur content in diesel fuel is to mix it with biodiesel. However, biodiesel contains microbes that can cause microbial corrosion. While sulfur can be used to reduce microbe population levels, at the lower sulfur levels of the new fuel requirements this prevention method may not be as effective.
Danish University Develops Rust Monitoring Patch
Aarhus University in Aarhus, Denmark has been working on a new way to monitor the condition of steel in reinforced concrete. A team of researchers is developing a sensor that provides feedback to inspection teams on how the steel reinforcing bar is handling the effects of rebar corrosion. What is unique about this device is that the sensor is actually integrated directly into the concrete structure. Also unique is the fact that this sensor is able to power itself, making it self-sustaining. The sensor uses ultrasonic methods to check the condition of the steel reinforcing bar and sends that data to computers, which can then display the data to an inspection team. The development of this device is still ongoing at the university.
Air Force Approves New Electrophoretic (E-Coat) Primer
The United States Air Force has recently tested PPG’s new Aerocron electrophoretic deposition (e-coat) primer and deemed it acceptable for corrosion prevention on exterior aircraft substrates. The USAF acknowledged the performance is as good, if not better, than that of a typical powder spray coating. The e-coating differs from the powder spray coating process in that the e-coating involves dipping an entire component into a liquid bath of a coating compound and applying an electrical charge until a desired coating thickness is achieved. This process allows for thinner and more uniform coatings than powder spray coating. This is the first e-coating approved by the USAF.
Registration Now Open for Powder Coating Week 2020
The Powder Coating Institute has recently opened up registration for its Powder Coating Week Conference in 2020. The conference is scheduled for February 17 through February 20, 2020 and will take place at the Renaissance Orlando located at SeaWorld in Orlando, Florida. The powder coating process is a frequently used and very effective way to increase corrosion resistance.
The Powder Coating Week Conference has three main events that conference-goers can attend. One is the Powder Coating 101 Workshop, which is great for people who need to get a base level understanding of the powder coating process. Another event is the Custom Coater Forum, where individuals in the powder coating industry can network and exchange best practices. Finally, there is the Powder Coating Technical Conference, where various, in-depth powder coating advancements will be discussed.
Landing Gear Failure Due to Corrosion
In 2017, a landing gear failure occurred when an Air New Zealand plane tried to land at Nelson, NZ. The plane experienced a main landing gear alert when it was deployed, and minor damage to the plane occurred during the landing process. A study released recently by the Transport Accident Investigation Commission found that two springs in the landing gear equipment caused the failure. The springs had undergone corrosion and cracked as a result, possibly due to the salt environment that the plane typically operated in. The inspection and maintenance plan of these springs has been revised so that they will be replaced more frequently to prevent this type of failure from occurring in the future.