Photo Aker Finnyards
HUT drafts guidelines for
corrosion prevention in marine technical structures
“The Laboratory of Corrosion and Material Chemistry of Helsinki University of
Technology is currently conducting extensive research on marine technology involving
coating and cathodic protection.The research projects compare coating materials and
sacrificial anodes and develop sacrificial anode materials,” says Jari Aromaa, DSc (Tech),
of the laboratory.
ccording to an extensive study carried out in the USA in 2002
(www.corrosioncost.com), the total annual costs caused by corrosion to ships in the United States is USD
2.7 billion. Some 40% of the total is incurred
from corrosion prevention of new structures, 30% from maintenance and 30% from
standing time. The study proposed that a
third of these costs could be avoided by
exploiting existing information on corrosion.
“The Laboratory of Corrosion and
Material Chemistry at HUT intends to
launch a research project to comprehensively examine corrosion and prevention
thereof of different sections of ships, includ-
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ing the hull, pipelines, machinery and passenger facilities over their entire life-cycle.
Regarding corrosion prevention, the project
will also deal with design, materials, coating
and the correct use and maintenance of
structures. There will be a heavy emphasis
on using existing knowledge,” says Aromaa.
“The objective of the research
project is to draw up comprehensive
guidelines for the prevention of corrosion in marine technical structures, covering their entire life-cycle.”
The laboratory has a unique marine corrosion station outside Helsinki
on Isosaari island in he Gulf of Finland.
The station has facilities for various im-
mersion and climate tests and electrochemical corrosion tests in the seawater of the Gulf (http://www.hut.fi/Units/
Corrosion/Korroosion_Isosaari.htm). A
long-term immersion test is underway on
Isosaari to measure the corrosion rate of
various metals such as steel, stainless steel,
zinc, and copper alloys in breakwater, comparative crevice corrosion tests on various
stainless steels, a long-term corrosion test
on steel welding seams and immersions
tests on zinc-silica paints.
Marine technology a focus area
“Marine technology is one of the focus
area