Case Study: United States Naval Research Laboratory achieves microstructure-based pitting corrosion prediction with COMSOL

Simulation-Led Strategy for Corrosion Prevention

The United States Naval Research Laboratory faced a longstanding, high‑cost challenge: understanding and preventing pitting corrosion in metals, a multiphysics problem that drives billions in maintenance spending and is the Navy’s top maintenance issue. To capture how microstructure, electrochemistry, mass transport and mechanics interact at the micron scale, the Laboratory used Comsol Multiphysics (with the Corrosion Module and LiveLink for MATLAB) to build detailed models of pit initiation and growth informed by orientation imaging microscopy data.

Using Comsol, NRL implemented coupled simulations (transport of diluted species, electrostatics, moving‑mesh ALE and structural post‑analysis) that reproduce irregular pit fronts, von Mises stress concentrations, and localized material loss, and that drove the development of micron‑scale experiments to validate the models. Comsol’s environment and LiveLink for MATLAB enabled the team to include grain‑by‑grain pitting potentials, produce actionable insights into microstructure–corrosion relationships, and move toward designs that can reduce corrosion damage and its multi‑billion dollar impact.

United States Naval Research Laboratory

Siddiq Qidwai

Mechanical Engineer