The goal of the project is to obtain

• a fundamental understanding of the mechanisms governing localised corrosion of carbon steel in a maritime environment;
• obtain quantitative data on the size, shape and growth rate of 'pits’, which can feed in models for remaining useful lifetime;
• and have a method to obtain that information from field locations/structures, using coupon data and methods to continuously monitor pitting susceptibility via electrochemical measurements.

Electrochemical methods will be used to study the impact of various factors influencing carbon steel corrosion in the lab; and understand how the output values are related to pit severity (WP1). A method will be developed to analyse corroded surfaces, and applied to a large number of already available corroded coupons (WP2). Field measurements will be carried out to study the impact of (macro)fouling, mudline corrosion, and cathodic protection, and finally formulate hypotheses on the mechanisms of pitting of carbon steel (WP3). A statistical framework will be developed to turn field data into data useable as input for lifetime models (WP4). By striving to have the results taking up in recommended practices such as DNV-RP-0416, support will be created for international uptake of knowledge and technology developed in Belgium.