At Bournemouth University, scientists have made and patented a new corrosion sensor. This sensor could help enhance the reliability and safety of huge structures like aircraft, bridges, military vehicles, and gas pipelines.
Image Credit: Bournemouth University.
The device has the potential to detect defects and threats in major infrastructure well in advance compared to the methods that are utilized at present. Also, by enhancing safety, the need for laborious repairs could be decreased, which could come at a significant cost and trouble to the industries and the public.
Our doctors often encourage us to take health screenings regularly, so they can diagnose conditions at an early stage which gives us better options for treatment.
Zulfiqar Khan, Professor, Design Engineering and Computing, Bournemouth University
Khan added, “This sensor works on the same principal. If we can spot health risks in vehicles and mechanical structures before corrosion reaches an advanced and dangerous stage, we can avoid costly, lengthy repairs and hopefully prevent structures from being scrapped altogether.”
Although other corrosion sensors are utilized by the industry, they all need cables to be plugged into a computer. This means that the maintenance must take place with a worker available at the site. The device of Professor Khan is wireless so it can be fixed to a structure and its readings could be constantly tracked off-site.
As an additional advantage, the sensor could be utilized on any type of surface, whereas the majority of the existing devices just work on metallic surfaces that the electricity from the sensor should pass through.
The aerospace industry, for example, would prefer a sensor which can detect failures beneath non-metallic coatings. Currently this involves removing a patch of the non-conductive coating to make the conductive surface available - this could be counter-productive as it can initiate corrosion more rapidly.
Zulfiqar Khan, Professor, Design Engineering and Computing, Bournemouth University
Khan continued, “Unmonitored failures lead to costly consequences. Scheduled inspections are tedious, time-consuming, and are mostly limited to visual or surface failures. Our latest sensor technology is a futuristic, much-needed solution.”
“It can work remotely, it works on metallic and non-metallic surfaces and can detect defects several millimeters below the surface which are not visible to the naked eye,” continued Khan
The research is the latest development in a series of research projects which started 10 years ago at the Bovington Tank Museum in Dorset. The museum consists of one of the most considerable collections of military vehicles and tanks in the world. Professor Khan’s team employed their expertise to come up with a means to track corrosion in the vehicles to help maintain them.
Eventually, this work resulted in the development of a £2.5 million conservation center for the majority of at-risk tanks. Also, the team presented maintenance work that can be performed on some tanks so they can be driven safely at showgrounds.
Furthermore, the team received financial support in 2016 to work with infrastructure companies in the US where the technology improved their business and brought commercial advantages.
Currently, the technology has been granted patents in the US and the UK, and Professor Khan and his research group are eager to work with collaborators so that it can be rolled out throughout the industry.
Furthermore, having benefits for operational infrastructure, the device would assist companies with huge fleets of vehicles or machinery that might be kept in depots and not subjected to use or service on a regular basis.
It is a bit like coming home from work and deciding you want some food that has been at the back of the cupboard, only to find that it is past its use-by date. Our device can continually monitor mechanical structures to ensure they always remains in date and will not have to be thrown out.
Zulfiqar Khan, Professor, Design Engineering and Computing, Bournemouth University