Johnstown, PA October 16, 2017

A presentation delivered by Concurrent Technologies Corporation (CTC) Principal Materials Scientist Rob Mason was recognized by the DoD Corrosion Office as one of five winners in the 2017 DoD - Allied Nations Technical Corrosion Conference in Birmingham, Alabama, in August 2017.

Mason and Michael McInerney of the U.S. Army Engineer Research & Development Center (ERDC) Construction Engineering Research Laboratory (CERL) collaborated on the presentation that won first place in the category of facilities and infrastructure.

The presentation explained work that CTC conducted for ERDC-CERL to find new coating materials to reduce corrosion on steel pumps in the Central Vehicle Wash Facilities at military installations. CTC identified and tested two advanced coating materials – a thermally sprayed cobalt alloy and chemically applied electroless nickel (EN).  Both coatings were effective, although the EN solution performed slightly better and was less expensive.

Whichever coating is used will double the pump service life compared to the previous pumps. That’s significant since the coatings will improve readiness for these important tactical military vehicles.

The DoD - Allied Nations Technical Corrosion Conference fosters a collaborative environment to better understand the impact of corrosion on DoD equipment and infrastructure and to jointly work toward practical prevention and control solutions.