Structural monitoring system for proactive detection of corrosion and coating failure

Abstract

Performance and availability of high priority structures, systems and products can be greatly affected by corrosion damage. The application of protective coatings, frequent inspections and scheduled based maintenance activities result in huge direct and indirect financial loss to organisations. The expeditious detection of coating failure and corrosion damage can result in precise and cost-effective condition-based maintenance. Coating failure and corrosion phenomena are driven by complex multi-disciplinary parameters according to extensive research findings in the literature. State-of-the-art prognostic models proposed in recent years incorporate complex multi-disciplinary parameters, therefore a real-time prognostic monitoring system must acquire these complex parameters to allow accurate prediction. The work reported here covers the development of a real-time monitoring system by using micro-sensors and includes the validation of the system through accelerated corrosion and coating failure testing. The system contains a remote terminal unit that includes a linear polarisation method for corrosion detection under the coating and a micro-strain gauge method for monitoring stress behaviour over the coating. The software at a base station includes a graphical user interface and database to store parameters for further processing and failure prediction. Real-time monitoring system can be applied to remote, stationary and mobile assets to monitor mechanical and chemical changes within coating-substrate systems.