This article provides a discussion on the design, in-process, storage, and in-field problems and their considerations associated with armament corrosion with examples. Design considerations include geometry, material selection, assembly, pretreatment, coatings, and working and storage environments. In-process corrosion concerns include processing locations, in-process storage of parts, time between processing steps, and quality control of each processing step. The article also discusses the analysis of the in-field corrosion of the finished product, including physical environments, repair of corrosion-protective coatings, general corrosion-protection maintenance, and appropriate fixes and procedures that can be implemented by soldiers in-field to stop continued corrosion of armament equipment.

This article focuses on technologies in the protective coatings field, namely, polysiloxane hybrids and related materials. Industrial maintenance topcoats, including silicone alkyds, silicone epoxies, and polysiloxanes are reviewed. The article discusses two major application areas of protective coatings, namely, architectural coatings and automotive clear coats.

This article provides an overview of the electrochemical nature of corrosion and analyzes corrosion-related failures. It describes corrosion failure analysis and discusses corrective and preventive approaches to mitigate corrosion-related failures of metals. These include: change in the environment; change in the alloy or heat treatment; change in design; use of galvanic protection; use of inhibitors; use of nonmetallic coatings and liners; application of metallic coatings; use of surface treatments, thermal spray, or other surface modifications; corrosion monitoring; and preventive maintenance.

Acrylic coatings are one of the major generic classes of organic coatings and are prevalent in both architectural and industrial applications. This article provides information on the chemistry of acrylic polymers, the methods used in their manufacture, the relationship between structure and properties when they are formulated into coatings, and how they are being used in coatings. The main discussion points are the differences between solventborne and waterborne technologies and some of the challenges in formulating and applying waterborne acrylic coatings. The article describes the mechanism of film formation of acrylic latex polymers and its effect on final coating properties. It discusses the types of waterborne acrylic latex coatings based on chemical properties and based on applications such as primers, intermediate coats, topcoats, stains, and direct-to-substrate finishes. The article concludes with a description of the advances in the development of waterborne acrylic coatings for maintenance and protective applications.

Maintainability is a function of the durability, damage tolerance, and repairability of a structure. This article discusses the configurations of composite structures, such as sandwich, stiffened-skin, and monolithic structures, used in commercial aircraft composites. It describes the considerations for maintainability of the composite structures during the conceptual design phase. Sources of the defects and damage, such as manufacturing defects and in-service defects, are reviewed. The article describes the nondestructive inspection methods that are used in the repair of composite structures to locate damage, characterize the extent of damage, and ensure post-repair quality. It lists suggestions that can be used as design guidelines for adhesive bonding, general composite structure, sandwich structure, material selection, and lightning-strike protection. The article also provides the basic considerations for personnel, facilities, and equipment during maintenance.

The necessary precursor to a proper and durable finish is the preparation of the active aluminum surface to receive the desired protective finish that will allow it to have a long and attractive service life. This article helps those who work with aluminum in the many varieties of applications of such products. It describes the two main categories of cleaning that can be used with most any metal, namely, mechanical cleaning and chemical cleaning. The article provides a discussion on the laboratory evaluation of cleaners, field testing of cleaners, and cleaner types and procedures. It also describes the special cleaning procedures for aluminum alloys, such as steam cleaning and rotary wire-brush cleaning. The article reviews the use of temporary coatings and the use of maintenance coatings on aluminum. It provides information on the handling and storage procedures of aluminum alloys and the cleaning of specific applications of aluminum.

Weathering steels contain deliberate additions of alloying elements intended to increase the atmospheric corrosion resistance of steel. This article provides an overview of atmospheric corrosion testing. It describes the estimation of the atmospheric corrosion behavior of weathering steels by two methods such as short-term exposure tests and calculation of a corrosion index based on the steel composition. The article highlights some generalities about corrosion mechanisms. Based on the mechanism of atmospheric corrosion resistance of weathering steel, working rules for creating the protective oxide film have evolved. The article also provides case histories that illustrate both the violations of these rules and suggestions on how to avoid certain maintenance problems that may be encountered with weathering steels.

This article reviews the performa