Case Study: U.S. Naval Research Laboratory advances corrosion prevention research with Comsol Multiphysics

U.S. Naval Research Laboratory models corrosion costing up to $600 billion with Comsol

The U.S. Naval Research Laboratory (NRL) faced the significant challenge of understanding and preventing pitting corrosion, a complex multiphysics problem that is the U.S. Navy's number one maintenance issue and costs the national economy hundreds of billions of dollars annually. To fundamentally research the mechanisms behind corrosion and enable the design of better materials, mechanical engineer Siddiq Qidwai and his team turned to Comsol for a simulation-led strategy.

Using Comsol Multiphysics® with the Corrosion Module and LiveLink™ for MATLAB®, the NRL team implemented a comprehensive solution. They developed a sophisticated multiphysics model that incorporates real metal microstructure to simulate pit growth, something previous work had not focused on. This approach provided crucial insight into the relationship between microstructure and corrosion, which has already spurred the development of a novel experimental method for validation. The Comsol software made previously difficult work manageable, moving the lab toward its ultimate goal of creating corrosion-resistant materials to drastically reduce maintenance costs and improve structural integrity.

U.S. Naval Research Laboratory