The authors survey the result of investigations of protective coatings for structural iron and steel extending over twenty years. In the field of painting, the research has thrown into relief the vital importance of correct surface preparation and the value of using inhibitive priming paints. Studies of the formulation of anti-corrosive paints, both for land and marine structures are in progress in collaboration with the paint industry. In the field of metallic coatings, basic data have been obtained for the performance of aluminum, cadmium, lead, tin and zinc coatings under various conditions of atmospheric exposure. The durability of zinc coatings has been shown to be roughly proportional to their thickness and but little affected by the process of application. Sprayed aluminum has proved an effective coating but lead coatings have given good results only in an industrial atmosphere, where they become covered with a protective sulfate film.
The Work of the Protective Coatings (Corrosion) Sub-Committee*
F. FANCUTT, F.R.I.C., A.M.I.Mech.E., was employed by the London North Western Railway at Wolverton in 1912 and, after war service, rejoined the Railway and was posted to the Crewe Chemical Laboratory, later being transferred to Wolverton to take charge of a small laboratory dealing with paints and other materials.
On the formation of the London Midland & Scottish Railway, he was transferred to Derby to set up a new paint testing organization, which was later embodied in the Research Department of British Railways.
In October, 1950, he was appointed Superintendent, Chemistry Div. of the Research Department, British Railways, controllina 11 Area Chemical Laboratories in various parts of Great Britain with Headquarters in London.
He has served on the Corrosion Committee and Protective Coatings Sub-Committee of the British Iron & Steel Research Association, and has been Chairman of Joint Technical Panels dealing with the production of steel under atmospheric and marine exposures. He also has served on numerous national bodies connected with corrosion and its prevention over the past 20 years.
J. C. HUDSON, born in 1900, was educated at Brighton College and the Royal College of Science, London, where he gained his Associateship. After engaging in post-graduate research in physical chemistry, he investigated atmospheric corrosion for the British Non-Ferrous Metals Research Association, which led to his being awarded the D.Sc. (London). Since 1929 he has been Investigator to the Corrosion Committee, originally of the Iron and Steel Institute but now under the aegis of the British Iron and Steel Research Association.
