The Corrosion Science and Technology Group in the Materials Science and Technology Division at the Oak Ridge National Laboratory does a broad range of corrosion research to support all forms of transportation and energy including fossil fuels, nuclear and fusion.
Research
We develop solutions to environmental degradation problems through application of fundamental mechanistic understanding, advanced, characterization techniques, laboratory simulation of extreme environments, extensive materials databases, industrial collaborations, field studies, and expertise of our eight technicians and eight Ph.D. scientists. Our staff has experience with a broad range of materials including conventional alloys (i.e. steels and aluminum), superalloys, refractory metals, intermetallics, refractory and advanced ceramics, composites and coatings. A specialty area is creating model alloys to assist in alloy development as well as mechanistic studies.
The group has extensive laboratory facilities including high temperature (steam, mixed gases, etc.), high pressure, sulfidizing and carburizing environments, liquid metals, molten salts, bio-fuels and other renewables, and aqueous and atmospheric corrosion. We develop solutions to corrosion issues ranging from basic failure analysis, corrosion monitoring and materials selection to new alloy design and component lifetime predictions. An area of increased interest has been the effect of environment on mechanical properties using both ex-situ and in-situ testing of creep and fatigue in environments such as steam, molten salts and simulated exhaust.
