AN ULTRA-SENSITIVE MAGNETIC MEASUREMENT SYSTEM FOR EVALUATING CORROSION

RECENT EXPERIMENTS AT MASSACHUSETTS INSTITUTE OF TECHNOLOGY HAVE SHOWN THAT A NEW NONINVASIVE TECHNIQUE FOR MONITORING THE MAGNETIC FIELDS ASSOCIATED WITH ELECTROCHEMICAL CORROSION CURRENTS CAN GIVE NEW INSIGHTS INTO THE FUNDAMENTAL PHYSICS OF CORROSION PROCESSES. HOWEVER, THE CURRENT RESEARCH IS BEING CONDUCTED ON EQUIPMENT WHICH IS POORLY SUITED TO THESE PARTICULAR MEASUREMENTS. IN CONJUNCTION WITH THE MIT GROUP, WE PROPOSE TO DEVELOP INSTRUMENTATION SPECIFICALLY DESIGNED FOR THESE MEASUREMENTS, WITH THE EVENTUAL GOAL OF PRODUCING A NEW LINE OF INSTRUMENTATION WHICH CAN NONINVASIVELY MEASURE LOW RATES OF CORROSION. WITH AN ANNUAL ECONOMIC COST OF ORDER $70 BILLION DUE TO CORROSION, THE BENEFITS OF IMPROVED UNDERSTANDING OF THE CORROSION PROCESS IS CLEAR.