Engineering Commons^™

Interfacial Corrosion Of Copper And The Formation Of Copper Hydroxychloride, Mary Teague, Shengxi Li, Hongbo Cong

Williams Honors College, Honors Research Projects

Electrical circuitry is an industry, among many others, heavily using the element of copper. Ensuring the mechanical integrity of Cu is crucial, especially in salt environments, for the multifaceted composition of circuits. 4N NaCl solution (equilibrium concentration in ~84% RH) simulated this three-phase system. Rectangular Cu samples were partially immersed in both ambient and continuous lab air sparging atmospheres to understand waterline corrosion of the metal. Open circuit potentials (OCP) were continuously taken during the immersion testing for a maximum of 5 days. A scanning electron microscopy (SEM) equipped with an energy dispersive X-ray spectrometer (EDS), Raman spectroscopy, and 3-D …

The Influence Of Organic Pigments On Coating Properties, Sarah Medeiros

Williams Honors College, Honors Research Projects

Abstract

The purpose of this project was to identify the qualities of two synthesized organic pigments added to a coating. These high-performance pigments were benzodipyrrolidone and benzodifuranone, which are π-conjugated monomers. These pigments were each formulated into two different pigment concentrations and compared with a control that had no pigment. This project is limited by time constraints and the number of variables that can be tested in that time. Performance testing was conducted to evaluate the qualities of these coatings. The results demonstrated that the coatings were reproducible and most tests had results that were equal to or exceeded the …

Investigation Of Scanning Kelvin Probe Techniques, Nicholas D'Angelo Jr., Hongbo Cong

Williams Honors College, Honors Research Projects

The original scope of this work was to advance the understanding of corrosion properties of additively manufactured (AM) materials by correlating microstructural defects in AM materials to the material conventional counterparts utilizing a scanning kelvin probe [Ametek VeraSCAN Electrochemical System]. However, upon the initiation of project research, it was observed that the system was not operational due to unknown hardware and software problems. The evolved scope of this work was to reconcile the operational issues and develop a repair and mitigation plan. After extensive troubleshooting, it was determined that the software was not properly configured, and the electrometer had permanently …

Modeling Crevice Corrosion Of Nickel Alloy 625 In Seawater, Linsey Grzeschik

Williams Honors College, Honors Research Projects

In this work, COMSOL Multiphysics was used to model crevice corrosion of Nickel Alloy 625 in seawater. Initial model parameters included a bulk solution of 0.6M (Cl^-) ASTM D1141-98 artificial seawater, a crevice length of 12.7mm, and applied current of 0.44V_SHE. A crevice gap of 7μm and 10μm were compared using a 3.0m polarization curve of the simulated critical crevice solution for Alloy 625. A constant crevice gap of 10μm was used to compare varying polarization curves of 3.0m, 3.5m, and deaerated seawater. The model found a variation in free chloride concentration from the bulk to …

Design Of Shape-Conforming Nosecone For Optimal Fluid Flow From Transonic To Supersonic Range, Anna Tombazzi

Williams Honors College, Honors Research Projects

Modern flight vehicles, such as rockets, missiles, and airplanes, experience a force caused by forebody wave drag during the flight. This drag force is induced when the frontal point of each vehicle breaks the pressure wave during flight. Efforts to reduce this wave drag force to improve flight efficiency include modifying the nosecone profile of the flight vehicles to lower the drag force.

This project revolved around creating a design to make the transformation of nosecone shapes from a ¾ Parabolic profile to a ½ Power Series profile possible, mid-flight. Using a novel nosecone assembly, shape memory alloys (SMAs) and …

Galvanic And Pitting Corrosion Of A Fastener Assembly, Julie Shallman

Williams Honors College, Honors Research Projects

This research focuses on coupled galvanic/pitting corrosion of AA7075 when combined with stainless steel in a fastener assembly. A one-dimensional mathematical model of a well-mixed thin film electrolyte is developed to predict the damage profile of the AA7075 surface when its protective coating is damaged. The damage exposes the galvanic couple. A time dependent system of partial differential equations for potential, chloride concentration, aluminum ion concentration, and damage is developed and solved numerically. Two approaches to calculate the current density within aluminum pits are discussed. The first is a current balance between the cathodic, anodic and passive portions of the …