Corrosion Awareness Day 2020: Strategies to mitigate the effect of corrosion from the design phase

Acting directly over metallic materials and their transformation processes is key to delay corrosion and mitigate its negative impact, as well as to achieve more efficient industrial processes.

Corrosion is a natural and unavoidable phenomenon that affects the properties and functionality of metallic materials, components and equipment, advancing their deterioration and failure. This phenomenon transversely impacts all industrial sectors and other fields not even directly linked to industry.

Therefore, corrosion has a significant economic and environmental impact, with direct (substitution of equipment, failure of structures, accidents…) and indirect (preventative maintenance, repair, etc.) consequences. As estimated by the Wold Corrosion Organization yearly direct costs linked to corrosion exceed the amount of 2.000 billion euros worldwide but over 20% of these could be avoided by just applying technology and knowledge, which is already available in the market.

As a Technology Centre focused in metallic materials and their transformation processes, AZTERLAN performs significant research efforts to mitigate the effect of corrosion. To achieve this main objective, the strategies of the Technology Centre are directed towards the design phase and the improvement of the efficiency of transformation processes fostering production lead-time and cost savings.

AZTERLAN aims at improving the behaviour of materials and coatings to face corrosion, mainly, by developing new alloys with improved corrosion resistance properties, by modifying surfaces and by developing multi-material components. The target is to achieve more sustainable and efficient technologies, by more simple manufacturing processes.

The new knowledge and technologies developed by AZTERLAN facilitate equipment designers, manufacturers and end users relevant information for decision making in the field of materials, design, manufacturing and coatings, depending on the applications of each component. .

• AZTERLAN catalogue of R&D solutions for Metallic Materials Corrosion and Protection

• Read the interview to Enara Mardaras, coordinator of research line Corrosion and Protection for Metallic Materials

Accredited and tailored corrosion testing services

AZTERLAN Metallurgy Research Centre also offers technological services to mitigate and evaluate the direct effect of corrosion. Most of these testing services are performed under the UNE-EN ISO/IEC 17025 ENAC accreditation. Some additional services offered by AZTERLAN in this field: study of failure in-service causes, high value metallurgical advisory to optimise the properties of metallic materials along with specific conception and performance of tailored testing, depending on the characteristics required to materials.

Corrosion tests performed by AZTERLAN allow manufacturers to credit and to ensure the quality of their materials under the international standards UNE, ISO and ASTM, as well as to homologate their components in compliance with specifications of customers from highly demanding sectors such as Oil&Gas, Wind Energy or Automotive industry, among many others.

• AZTERLAN catalogue of testing services for Metallic Materials Corrosion and Protection