Government Coatings Research- Fundamental to Performance

By Cynthia Challener

Coatings research activities within the U.S. Department of Defense and NASA address critical is­sues facing the military and upcoming space explo­ration initiatives. Corrosion detection and control, en­vironmentally friendly/compliant technologies, and rapid cure topcoats lie at the center of many projects within the Army, Navy, Air Force, and NASA coatings research laboratories.

Recent studies regarding the impact of corrosion damage on U.S. industry and within the military high­light the need for effective control strategies and further research into prevention and detection technologies. In 2002, a study initiated by NACE International-The Corrosion Society found the total annual estimated di­rect cost of corrosion in the U.S. to be $276 billion­ approximately 3.1 % of the nation’s Gross Domestic Product (GDP).

A 2001 government-sponsored study estimated the costs of corrosion for military systems and infrastruc­ture to be about $20 billion annually. Corrosion was identified as one of the largest components of life-cycle costs for weapon systems and a major cause of down­time for critical military assets. The Government Accounting Office (GAO) report, “Defense Management: Opportunities to Reduce Corrosion Costs and Increase Readiness,” issued in July 2003, found that the Department of Defense (DoD) and the military services do not have an effective approach to prevent and mitigate corrosion, despite the fact that each serv­ice has multiple corrosion offices.
The DoD has established a central corrosion control activity and strategy.

The GAO recommended that the strategy should identify standardized methods for eval­uating project proposals, estimating resource needs, and coordinating projects in an inter-service and service ­wide context. The Office of the Secretary of Defense has initiated a concerted effort to fund corrosion research at the DoD and bring corrosion more to the forefront. Currently, approximately $50 million is allocated annually for funding corrosion issues. Although signifi­cant increases in corrosion funding are difficult to achieve at this time, an increased emphasis has been placed on training and specification.

The DoD will also benefit in the long-term from the incorporation of lan­guage into the defense federal acquisition regulations requiring that corrosion control shall be considered up­front in the procurement process, according to Keith Lucas, director of the Center for Corrosion Science & Engineering at the Naval Research Laboratory in Washington, D.C.

The “corrosion exchange” within the DoD encourages the different government corrosion labs to work together and maximize their effort, elimi­nate duplication, and facilitate access to resources. It should also make it possible to put together larger re­search programs and make them more competitive with others seeking funding.