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This SERDP and ESTCP webinar focuses on DoD-funded research efforts to develop two predictive corrosion models designed to estimate the functional life of protective coatings on various DoD assets. Specifically, the investigators will provide an overview of both models and project progress to date.

Abstracts 

“Predictive Corrosion Models to Mitigate Environmental Hazards on Ground and Rotary Wing Assets” by Mr. James Ellor and Mr. John Repp ( SERDP Project WP19-1208) 

This project led by the U.S. Army Research Lab (ARL), Elzly Technology Corporation (Elzly), and GCAS, Inc. (GCAS) involves developing a corrosion model to predict in-service performance on ground and rotary wing assets that use the Chemical Agent Resistant Coating (CARC) system. This modeling effort leverages both laboratory and in-service coating and corrosion data collected on the standard CARC system and system variations. ARL, as the Department of Defense (DoD) CARC Commodity Manager, has a vast collection of laboratory and field exposure data sets, which are being used under this project to relate degradation to material properties. Additionally, Elzly and ARL have access to a large population set (over 19,000 assets, 313,000 parts, and 518,000 photos) of in-service ground equipment platform coating and corrosion data observations. The material properties and performance observations are being mapped to coating application parameters/variations to identify those having the greatest impact on coating defects and leading to subsequent corrosion. This presentation will cover the team’s work to date, which has focused on the review of these data sets on specific ground equipment platforms, identification of the characteristics that are most closely associated with a need to repaint an asset, and initial efforts to relate and predict these behaviors based on input variables. At the completion of this project, it is expected that this modeling effort will be transitioned to develop predicted repaint intervals. This can be accomplished by working with the Aviation and Missile Command (AMCOM) and Tank-automotive and Armaments Command (TACOM) Corrosion Prevention and Control (CPC) Programs and using painting and operational use data available and implemented through each organization’s Technical Manuals (TMs) in this subject area.

“Predictive Coating Condition Model for Advanced Asset Management” by Dr. Brandi Clark ( SERDP Project WP19-1168)

The goal of this effort is to develop a predictive coating condition model (PCCM) to estimate the functional life of protective coatings. Failure of a properly formulated and applied coating consists of two distinct processes, mechanical damage and loss of inhibitor protection. The failure time is dependent on these two stages of deterioration, and a coupled model will be used to consider the impact of both processes on time to failure. The primary objective of this project is to quantify the transition from a protective to a non-protective condition for scribed aerospace coatings using real-time coating condition measurements and change point detection analysis techniques. Real-time measurements of coating condition were correlated with reference panels to monitor the evolution of coating damage. Environmental variables investigated included relative humidity, salt loading, the sequence of salt loading severity, and the effect of outdoor weathering. Change point detection techniques were applied to a subset of the resulting data to detect a transition from a protective to a non-protective coating condition for both chromate and non-chrome aerospace primers. This presentation will cover a description of the coating test methods along with the analysis of the resulting data and its implications for PCCM development.

 

Speaker Biographies 

Mr. John Repp is a senior consultant with Elzly Technology Corporation, a subsidiary of KTA-Tator, and works in Vineland, New Jersey. Throughout his career, Mr. Repp has been involved in a range of technical, engineering, and acquisition programs ranging from basic research to field implementation of corrosion prevention solutions. Mr. Repp has been substantially involved in the corrosion prevention of Ground Equipment Platforms with various agencies of the DoD. He has also supported corrosion prevention projects in the commercial automotive industry, through organizations such as the Society of Automobile Engineers, United States Council for Automotive Research, and the Auto/Steel Partnership. Mr. Repp has also supported other DoD projects to address corrosion issues on aviation and ship-based weapon systems as well as support to the evaluation and implementation of coating and corrosion prevention solutions for military installations. He is serving as the chair for the DoD technical committee within the Association for Materials Protection and Performance (AMPP). Mr. Repp received a bachelor’s degree in mechanical engineering from Drexel University and an MBA from Rutgers University.

 

Mr. James A. Ellor is a senior consultant with Elzly Technology Corporation, a subsidiary of KTA-Tator, and works from Reston, Virginia. Throughout his career, Mr. Ellor has been involved in myriad programs including contract research, field investigations, and field construction. Throughout his career, Mr. Ellor has been significantly involved with various agencies of the DoD addressing corrosion priorities on weapon systems and military installations. Mr. Ellor has also worked extensively in corrosion control on industrial steel and concrete structures, seeking technologies to extend the service life of America’s infrastructure. He is a registered professional engineer and a National Association of Corrosion Engineers (NACE)-Certified corrosion specialist and cathodic protection specialist, and he was named a NACE Fellow in 2021. He received a bachelor’s degree in chemical engineering from the University of California, Berkeley.

 

Dr. Brandi Clark is a research engineer and project manager at Luna Labs USA in Charlottesville, Virginia. Dr. Clark started with Luna Labs in 2017 and has oveseen projects related to atmospheric corrosion measurement, corrosion fatigue, and direct measurement of aircraft coating condition. Her recent research and development activities have included leading projects to develop coatings and corrosion models, coating monitoring devices, and corrosion and environment severity monitoring software. She is a Project Management Institute (PMI) Agile Certified Practitioner and a member of both PMI and ASTM. As a National Research Council Postdoctoral Associate at the National Institute of Standards and Technology, she focused on characterizing the corrosion behavior of pipeline steels used in supercritical carbon dioxide applications. She received her bachelor’s degree in chemistry from the Missouri University of Science and Technology, and master’s and doctoral degrees in civil and environmental engineering from the Virginia Polytechnic Institute and State University.

  • Inspection,

  • Failure Analysis,

  • Computational Methods,

  • Corrosion,