Science-Based Corrosion Resistant Design for Aerospace

An analysis of structural failures in USAF aircraft has shown that 80% of cracks leading to failure are initiated at corrosion pits.  However, while aircraft design employs modern computational and finite element methods to analyze stress, heat transfer, fluid flow, etc., corrosion design is still done with tribal knowledge and rules of thumb.  Meanwhile, the most serious corrosion source in complex multi-material systems such as aircraft is galvanic corrosion, which is analyzed using specifications based on assumptions about corrosion severity that have now been shown to be incorrect.  The Sea-based Aviation Team, funded by ONR, has been developing a modern science-based approach to corrosion, using computer-aided engineering and corrosion current analysis to bring corrosion design into the 21^st century.

We will discuss the shortcomings of today’s approach, and the serious design flaws it engenders, the new analytical tools that have been developed, and the data acquisition methods and database that are being put in place to underpin all computational corrosion analysis, as well as updates to military galvanic corrosion specifications.  The discussion will include evaluation of common corrosion problems for design and overhaul, showing how this new science-based approach is leading to greatly improved approaches for minimizing corrosion in design and overhaul.