Historian

Nakita Pineiro

Public Relations Chair

Elad Ngujede

Social & Fundraising Chair

Lea Meliza Pigao

Undergraduate Research Seminar Series

American Society of Mechanical Engineers

Department of Mechanical Engineering

University of Hawai'i at Manoa

Honolulu, Hawai'i 96822

Tuesday, November 3, 2009, 4:30-5:30 PM, MSB 114

Featuring: Overview of Corrosion

Speaker: Dr. Lloyd H. Hihara, Professor

An overview of corrosion and research activities in the Hawaii Corrosion Laboratory (HCL) will be presented

ABSTRACT

Corrosion is a significant worldwide problem. It is ubiquitous and affects local communities and industries; city, state, and federal governments; and all branches of the military. Industrialized nations such as the United States, Japan, Great Britain, and Australia have estimated that the cost of corrosion to their national economies to be 3 to 4% of their gross domestic product. This translates to approximately $300 billion/year (or $1,200 per capita/year) in the United States.

Hawaii is perhaps one of the Worlds best natural laboratories for corrosion research based on its diverse climatic zones and environmental conditions. The mountainous topography of the Hawaiian Islands makes its climate one of the most spatially diverse on Earth, representing that of a miniature continent. Alpine (high solar radiation), rain forest, arid, and temperate climates; in addition to marine, volcanic (producing acid rain), industrial and agricultural environments exist in close proximity thereby making testing practical and viable. The HCL manages a host of outdoor testing sites in a wide variety of these microclimates and environments. The HCL also has state-of-the-art laboratory with capabilities for corrosion, electrochemical, and materials characterization. Corrosion test chambers, weather simulators, electrochemical apparatus, and surface analytical capabilities such as scanning electron microscopy, optical microscopy, FTIR spectrometry, secondary ion mass spectrometry, scanning probe microscopy, laser profilometery, etc. are available in the HCL.

The HCL conducts research in the areas of corrosion correlation studies, corrosion modeling, corrosion sensors, and corrosion protection strategies. This approach provides 1) a better understanding of the correlation between accelerated corrosion testing and performance in the natural environment, 2) predictive capabilities for corrosion behavior in atmospheric and immersed conditions, 3) the ability to assess corrosivity in real time with the utilization of sensors, and 4) strategies to combat corrosion using novel ceramer (hybrid ceramic-polymer) coatings and corrosion preventive compounds. Current HCL projects are 1) atmospheric corrosion; 2) degradation of advanced materials such as metal-matrix composites, 3) corrosion compatibility between alloys coupled to ceramics and composites; 4) development of ceramer coatings; and 5) development of corrosion sensors.