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U.S. Department of Energy
Office of Scientific and Technical Information

In-situ corrosivity monitoring of military hardware environments

Book ·
OSTI ID:379715
 [1]
  1. Naval Air Warfare Center, Patuxent River, MD (United States). Aircraft Div.

A method to monitor corrosive conditions (environments) for military equipment was developed. The concept is based on the electrochemical principles of galvanic corrosion. It consisted of a novel thin film device (interdigitized bimetallic strips on a kapton polymer) which was galvanically coupled or short circuited through a zero resistance ammeter (ZRA) and interfaced to a custom design data acquisition system called Corrosion Monitoring System (CMS). The sensor`s unique design allowed the use of any metal as the active element or anode to form the galvanic couple, which enhanced sensor`s versatility and usefulness in almost any application. In most applications Cd-Au sensor was used. For in-situ corrosivity monitoring sensors were installed in the interior of the aircraft, hidden structures, avionics bays, and embedded under coatings and sealants. The test sites included: military bases, aircraft carrier flight decks, marine atmosphere and operational aircraft and weapons storage areas. The results show a significant correlation between the output of the sensors and the corrosive conditions present, and may become a basis for condition based maintenance of military hardware in the future.

OSTI ID:
379715
Report Number(s):
CONF-960389--
Country of Publication:
United States
Language:
English