The Association for Materials Protection and Performance (AMPP) is an organization formed in 2021 by a merger between Houston-based NACE International – The Worldwide Corrosion Society and Pittsburgh-based SSPC: The Society for Protective Coatings.
AMPP brought together the world’s leading corrosion prevention and protective coatings organizations with a vision to create a safer, protected, and sustainable world. In addition to corrosion and coatings, the association focuses on the future of materials protection and performance.
AMPP has a membership of more than 40,000 individuals and organizations in over 130 countries. It consists of two governance structures:
- AMPP provides services to members in the areas of certification, accreditation, membership, advocacy and public affairs
- AMPP Global Center focuses on standards, technical and research activities, conferences, events, education, training, publications and preprofessional programming
AMPP provides numerous publications, training conferences, courses and virtual webinars of interest to corrosion engineers.
In 2020, NACE and SSPC announced a merger agreement. The two former professional organizations played significant roles in the corrosion industry for a combined total of 145 years.
The new organization, the Association for Materials Protection and Performance (AMPP) is a standards developer that is globally recognized as the leading authority for corrosion control solutions. It is charged with creating and providing corrosion prevention and control standards used by industries in which corrosion is a key concern.
The standards for coatings was originally focused on protecting steel structures such as bridges, ships, water tanks, and locks and dams. However, the mission of the organization has evolved over the years to include structures built with materials other than steel, such as concrete, graphene, composite materials, etc.
AMPP's standards are written and approved by industry professionals, professors, government officials and experts from regulatory and governing bodies. Its standards are divided into the following three areas:
- When corrosion is a factor, standard practices are methods of selection, design, installation or operation of a material or system
- Test methods are tests related to corrosion prevention and control.
- Material requirements are standards that define the required material characteristics when corrosion is a factor in material selection, application and maintenance
Coating standards are created by members of its technical committees that develop:
- Standards
- Specifications
- Guides
- Procedures
- Technology updates