PNNL

Abstract

To enhance research in the development and evaluation of materials for the construction of marine energy (ME) systems, this effort examined the need for standards, existing standard methods, gaps in available standards, and identified new methodologies that could become standards. The scope included methods covering corrosion prevention and anti-fouling performance. Developers of ME systems need reliable data to enable the selection of optimal materials of construction and coatings to protect structural features, sensors, mooring, and other elements of their devices. Test and evaluation data need to be relevant to ME, easy to interpret, quantitative, and standardized to allow comparisons of materials and techniques between different tests. The ability to extrapolate data to areas of operation (via models or comparison to reference materials tests) would further improve the usefulness of the data. As materials and coatings research continues in the US and abroad, a set of standards is needed to ensure that future tests have maximum utility for the industry. The search for and review of existing standards found that these do not adequately cover aspects such as prolonged immersion, the use of dissimilar materials, or quantitative measurement of fouling. Working in parallel with the WPTO-ME Multi-lab Advanced Materials program, a set of new methods was developed to address existing gaps in materials and coatings analysis. Draft manuscripts that detail each of these methods are included in this report. Following publication, these methods will also be proposed as new standards through the International Electrotechnical Committee (IEC), ASTM International, or other standards organization.