Project overview
Metal corrosion and wear currently costs industry $1.5-2 trillion globally per annum. The basis of many systems to mitigate these problems utilise compounds containing hexavalent chromium (Cr6+) as used in: chromic acid anodising (CAA); chemical conversion coatings; primers; paint, and hard chrome plating (EHC). Corrosion and wear are of particular importance to the aerospace industry where protection requirements are extremely severe. European REACH legislation is expected to ban the use of Cr6+ containing materials by 2016 due to its carcinogenic properties. This is a critical issue for the aerospace industry and has been highlighted as a priority in the 2011 National Aerospace Technology Strategy. A number of attempts have been made to introduce Cr6+ free materials and processes. The solutions have been found not to be as robust as expected, due in part, to the lack of validated, accelerated testing methods, resulting in unexpected failures. Individual aerospace companies are developing their own, proprietary solutions. This has caused problems in the supply chain, which it is finding difficult to support. This bid addresses this situation by bringing together an integrated aerospace based team from SMEs to academia to identify innovative solutions and develop robust accelerated testing methods that accurately reproduce severe environmental applications. This will enable the sector to adopt a common