Corrosion Protection Projects

Abstract

The purpose of this program is to develop a comprehensive capability to prevent and mitigate corrosion and its effects on Department of Defense (DoD) weapon systems and infrastructure. Corrosion severely impacts system and facility reliability, readiness and safety, and consumes a disproportionate amount of material and labor hours for repair and treatment of corrosion damaged systems and facilities. The cost of corrosion across the DoD is currently estimated at approximately $19 billion per year (down from approximately $22 billion in Fiscal Year 2007). The impact and cost of corrosion are so pervasive that Congress enacted Public Law 107-314 Sec: 1067 [portions codified in 10 U.S.C. 2228]: Prevention and mitigation of corrosion of military infrastructure and equipment. This legislation requires that DoD develop a long-term corrosion strategy to include establishment of a coordinated R&D program with transition plans. The legislation also requires that DoD designate a responsible official or organization to oversee a corrosion prevention and mitigation program. The responsibilities of the Director, Corrosion Policy and Oversight and the Military Department Corrosion Prevention and Control Executives were further delineated in DODI 5000.67 "Prevention and Mitigation of Corrosion on Military Equipment and Infrastructure" of 01 February 2010. The Deputy Secretary of Defense designated the Principal Deputy Under Secretary of Defense (Acquisition, Technology, and Logistics) (PDUSD(AT&L)) as the DoD Corrosion Executive in May 2003. The DoD Corrosion Executive subsequently established a Corrosion Control and Oversight office to implement the program. Subsequently, in accordance with Section 371 of the 2008 National Defense Authorization Act, the Under Secretary of Defense (USD(AT&L)) designated a Director, Corrosion Policy and Oversight to perform the duties of the DoD Corrosion Executive with responsibilities as described in the 2008 NDAA legislation. A major responsibility of the Director, Corrosion Policy and Oversight is to select high payoff research and development projects that promise to prevent or mitigate corrosion and significantly reduce the total cost of corrosion along with the adverse impact of corrosion effects on weapon system and infrastructure operational capability. This office chartered a Corrosion Prevention and Control Integrated Product Team (CPCIPT) that has selected and funded Operation and Maintenance projects for each Fiscal Year (FY) commencing in FY 2005. However, the DoD CPCIPT has determined that the biggest payoff in corrosion prevention and mitigation will come from investing in up-front prevention technologies, materials, and processes to leverage downstream cost avoidance in corrosion maintenance and repair. Likewise, development of improved predictive and prognostic techniques can eliminate unseen failure and reduce unnecessary maintenance and repair costs. Thus, technology development, demonstration, and transition projects have been selected and funded since FY 2006. In addition, the University Corrosion Collaboration (now the Technical Corrosion Collaboration (TCC)) was formed as collaboration between universities, Armed Forces Academies and DoD laboratories focused on corrosion technology research and development and producing individuals with corrosion expertise for the DoD corrosion control community of the future. Research areas include performance prediction, assessment of finish, surface engineering, and product support. This advanced corrosion research has been ongoing since FY 2008 and performed by teams from TCC participating organizations. In FY 2009, the Military Departments assigned corrosion executives and began submitting reports to Congress on inserting corrosion planning into the acquisition process. The FY 2011 NDAA added a requirement for the DoD to report the amount of funds requested in the preceding year budget for each planned project or activity, as compared to the funding required for each project or activity. These funds provide a portion of the funds used to implement associated corrosion control projects and activities. These projects address critical corrosion issues in both Department of Defense systems and infrastructure. A number of low-risk, high-payoff technologies promise to vastly improve the service life and significantly reduce the maintenance costs and improve the availability and safety of weapon systems and facilities essential to maintain support for the warfighter. A total of 151 projects have been completed to date and 111 have resulted in new technology implementation. The overall return on investment as estimated by the Military Departments is 16:1.

Document Details

• Document Type: Project
• Publication Date: Oct 01, 2020
• Source ID: 015_0604016D8Z_4_0400_PB_2020

Tags

Readers

• Defense Financial Management and Audit.
• Defense Technology Research and Development.
• Materials Science and Engineering.