Materials Evaluation and Corrosion Management

Understanding how materials behave, degrade and relate to each other is a fundamental part of the research that takes place at TWI, and factors into much of the work we conduct for our Members.

Whether it’s identifying what caused a component to fail, developing hydrophobic coatings for anti-graffiti applications, or identifying the optimum material for a niche application, our materials scientists have the depth of knowledge to develop solutions to all manner of materials-related problems, without compromising on safety or quality.

Current areas of activity

We are engaged in research in the following areas:

Materials performance in high-pressure and -temperature oil and gas systems
Testing materials in harsh environments
Hydrogen embrittlement of dissimilar joints in subsea applications

Cold-spray for coatings, surface repair and near-net shape forming
Hydrogen-assisted cracking of high-strength nickel-based alloys
Corrosion performance and weld metallurgy of duplex stainless steels

Our materials scientists are constantly working on a diverse range of market-driven projects. Our primary focus is currently on the following:

Failure investigation
Materials testing in hostile environments
Arc processes for additive manufacturing

TWI Members benefit from our unrivalled breadth of understanding and versatility of capability: with laboratories able to examine the microscopic, and specialised testing rigs able to investigate the massive, we can take on projects of any size.

Our world expert technology fellows, including Mike Gittos and Mike Troughton, contribute their considerable expertise to fulfilling the needs of our Members.

Recent developments

Some recent examples of pioneering work on behalf of our Members include the establishment or development of the following:

Materials performance in 500bar supercritical carbon dioxide
Critical flaw sizes for joints in polyethylene pipes
An automated coating for wind turbine foundations

Unique insight into the integrity of steel-to-nickel dissimilar joints
Performance of thermally sprayed aluminium at elevated temperature
New analytical methods for permeated water vapour, hydrogen and hydrogen sulphide

New equipment

This quality of work would not be possible without state-of-the-art equipment, and TWI has invested heavily to ensure our experts have access to every tool they need to satisfy our Members’ requirements. Recent acquisitions include the following:

See our Materials and Corrosion Management Equipment Factsheets

For more information please email:

contactus@twi.co.uk