The Navy’s newest ship class, the Independence class, is
made up of Littoral Combat Ships. Since
these are the newest kinds of ships, the Navy has the opportunity to develop
new ideas about what to make the ship out of and what coating to put on the
ship to prevent corrosion. Since Navy’s
around the world have been commissioning metal ships since 1859, you would
think scientists or engineers have determined the exact metal to coating ratio
by today’s century, but they are still struggling.
Specifically, the Navy is using active and passive anti-corrosion
measures on the USS Coronado (LCS-4). This means that while the new ship has
the same metal and coating treatment they have been using for years, they have
invented a type of technology that alerts the sailors if the ship is at risk of
accelerated corrosion.
Do you think that this invention is just a stepping stone?
Or do you think that the Navy will never come up with a solution to corrosion?
Shellie,
ReplyDeleteCan you tell us more about the differences between active and passive anti-corrosion measures?
I think this is a stepping stone to give the Navy time to come up with a better solution. Every time they change the paint coating mix, they are getting closer and closer to finding the correct amount. The new technology they are using is helpful because it tells them when the ship is at risk, but they would still need to spend money repainting/protecting the ship. I feel very soon they will come up with something that will more efficiently protect the outside of the ship.
ReplyDeleteThis measure I described above was actually invented awhile ago. It is just a new plan to insert them on Navy vessels. In the article I read, it said that the company that invented this measure has been trying for years to develop a contract with the Navy, but they just never wanted to buy it.
ReplyDeleteBefore this technology, the Navy never put any type of technology on the outside of their ships to detect corrosion, they just worked on the type of material to make the ships out of.
With the coating, it is not really much about the differences between the measures because the major differences are the materials that they use. For example, the newest form of coating is an aluminum thermal spray. This spray was used on high temperature steam valves in 1977 and to this day, corrosion has never occurred. Before this invention, hard chrome was used on valves to prevent corrosion. But this invention is done inside the ship, not on the outside.