NSIRC PhD Student Adriana Presents at Eurocorr Paris 2024

Adriana Castro Vargas, NSIRC PhD Student and Research Associate at the Materials Innovation Centre, recently participated in the prestigious Eurocorr (European Corrosion Congress) in Paris, France.

Eurocorr Paris covered all aspects of corrosion science, technology, and engineering, with a special emphasis on the theme "A step forward in societal awareness of material degradation issues." The event successfully brought together corrosion experts from universities, research centres, and industries, providing a platform for presentations and discussions of advances in understanding corrosion phenomena and progress in corrosion prevention.

In her presentation during the marine corrosion session, Adriana discussed her findings on the "Effect of flow velocity on the corrosion performance of a thermally sprayed aluminium coating in synthetic seawater."

Experts in both academic and industry circles are deeply interested in how the speed of flow affects the rate at which offshore structures corrode. This is crucial because it directly impacts the design and expected lifespan of these structures.

Participation in industry conferences such as Eurocorr is an integral part of the PhD experience, and NSIRC students have consistently engaged in such events around the world.

Reflecting on her experience, Adriana shared her enthusiasm, stating, "What an amazing week at Eurocorr in Paris! It was a pleasure to connect with corrosion specialists and the industry. I presented at the sessions on marine corrosion and durability issues in solar panels. Thanks to the European Federation of Corrosion for the organisation. I look forward to the next Eurocorr!"

Adriana's research topic at NSIRC focuses on understanding how to protect offshore wind turbines from damage, specifically, a type of coating called thermally sprayed aluminium (TSA) that's often used to shield the steel in wind turbines from the harsh marine environment.

Even if there's some initial damage during installation, TSA can still protect the steel because it's more reactive than the steel itself.

Most studies have only looked at small areas of damage, so Adriana is working on figuring out just how much damage TSA can handle. She's using new methods to study TSA's ability to protect steel from major damage, including real-time surface monitoring, a rotating cylinder electrode, multi-coupon electrodes, and computer simulations.

Based at TWI Cambridge, Adriana's PhD project is supported by Leicester University and sponsored by Lloyd's Register Foundation.

For more information, please contact:
enquiries@nsirc.co.uk