PORT HUENEME, Calif. –
Naval Surface Warfare Center, Port Hueneme Division (NSWC PHD) is coming into the home stretch of what will be a nine-month long project with the University of California, Santa Barbara’s (UCSB) mechanical engineering department to help command materials scientists and the U.S. Navy address corrosion.
NSWC PHD and its private-public partnership Fathomwerx Lab have been working with a group of five UCSB seniors and faculty since last September on a capstone project to build an automated corrosion testing system (ACTS) as a possible solution to challenges caused by corrosion on Navy combat systems.
Armen Kvryan, NSWC PHD's lead materials engineer, said in comparison to other systems he's worked with in the past, the automated corrosion testing system is entirely customizable and modular, allowing for more control over experiments and providing the ability to gather specific data to aid the Navy.
"The Navy can utilize the automated corrosion testing system for research and development and new design application, but what we plan on using this for is overall maintenance, and to understand more how we can contribute to ship readiness,” Kvryan said. “When we do these tests with specific machinery, such as ACTS, we get unique information that lets us decide whether the asset is ready to go on its mission or not.”
The automated corrosion testing system can immerse an object in and out of water to accelerate corrosion and expose the object to a liquid solution as well as the ambient atmosphere. A computer interface manages the system and can control many components such as water temperature, salinity and pH level.
“We are trying to produce a very cost-effective method to test for a very specific type of corrosion and materials degradation issue that is unique to the combat systems world,” Kvryan said. “All could use the system, but I'm customizing it to hone in on what we need at Port Hueneme Division. Typically, we have to help maintain ships for the fleet that have been in service for a long time, resulting in components that rust and require maintenance. ACTS will be used to help us with issues including selecting a material/alloy and coating performance, among others.”
One of the challenges the student team has faced is working remotely due to COVID-19 restrictions, which has pushed the students in new directions to meet deadlines and complete the project.
In one instance, the team 3D printed components to meet project requirements, according to Kirk Fields, senior development engineer and lecturer at UCSB who is overseeing the ACTS student group. In another, UCSB student and project team member Matthew Kaplan purchased a large tank and set up a plumbing system with an impeller to show how well the water in the corrosion testing system circulates—all in his backyard.
“The length the students have gone to design and build something during COVID-19 because they can’t get onto campus and go into the design lab is amazing,” Fields said. “They can't go to the machine shop and make things; everything is completed remotely.”
Another challenge the students faced early was aligning their schedule with the Navy’s schedule so they could meet NSWC PHD’s and UCSB’s deadlines. To do that, NSWC PHD and UCSB tasked students with starting the project early in their quarter before even selecting the specific Navy project, and to do such things as list supplies they needed so the students could immediately start working once the school year began, and that way be on schedule with NSWC PHD.
“I'm a practicing engineer, so I look at skills that graduating engineers will need, and working under constraints is common and is something the students need to learn to overcome,” Fields explained. “So, if this project has a constraint, they need to get on it quickly to get their concepts in place so they can get their ordering done and budget in place. This a valuable lesson for them to learn.”
Kvryan has high hopes that the automated corrosion testing system can fill a need for the Navy, Department of Defense (DOD) and other organizations and industries also dealing with corrosion issues.
“The automated corrosion testing system is flexible and it could apply to organizations under the DOD as well as industries that deal with corrosion issues such as the automotive industry, for example," Kvryan said. "It's very customizable."
Kvryan and Fields have set a goal to have the automated testing system completed by June.