Scott Nicholas
Concurrent Technologies Corp. has identified and tested the use of thermally sprayed cobalt alloy and electroless nickel as alternative alloy coatings for military facility pump components for the U.S. Army Engineer Research and Development Center–Construction Engineering Research Laboratory.
CTC said Monday ERDC-CERL has tasked the company under the direction of the Office of the Secretary of Defense to discover coating materials that can help reduce corrosion on Central Vehicle Wash Facilities pump components.
The pumps coated with the alternative alloys have been disassembled and inspected and revealed no significant corrosion or degradation after 15 months worth of usage at Fort Polk, Louisiana.
A U.S. Army Corps of Engineers report co-authored with Rob Mason, CTC principal materials and process scientist, published in July noted CVWF at military installations support the readiness of tactical vehicles and use steel wash-rack pumps that undergo accelerated degradation when supply water is corrosive.
The report added that of the two materials used on the pump components, the EN process performed slightly better and produced more uniform results than the cobalt alloy which made the former the preferred method.
