Everywhere you look, the human-made world surrounds us. But engineering marvels such as skyscrapers, airplanes and even your smartphone are under threat from a process known as corrosion.
The Science Center’s newest exhibit—still in its prototyping stage—explores what corrosion is, why it happens, how we can prevent it and how you can join the effort to conquer this silent menace.
3D Mapping: Thanks to projection technology, visualize how corrosion affects infrastructure including steel, pipes and signage.
Cracking Under Stress: Test beam and truss shapes by applying weight and looking at them from polarized glass to see where they are most affected by stress and therefore more likely to corrode.
The Case of the Cracked Crawler Shoes: Investigate real NASA artifacts and walk in the footsteps of a corrosion engineer to determine the cause of a corrosion incident.
Careers in Corrosion: Hear from professionals in the field of corrosion engineering about their experiences and how they got inspired to address these problems and ensure our safety.
Little Plates Reveal Big Secrets: Act as a corrosion scientist investigating samples of materials exposed in a corrosive environment to determine which materials and coatings provide the best protection from corrosion.
CORRSim Junior: Take an (inter)active role in preventing corrosion by painting your bike and protecting it from the elements in this Kinect experience.
On Saturday, March 16, Orlando Science Center, the U.S. Department of Defense and other partners unveiled “Corrosion: The Silent Menace” during a VIP ceremony. In attendance were special guests LeVar Burton (“Star Trek: The Next Generation” and “Reading Rainbow”) and Rep. Daniel Webster (R-FL).
Presented by the U.S. Department of Defense Corrosion Policy and Oversight Office, this exhibit examines the natural phenomena that lead to corrosion and material degradation and intends to inspire the next generation of infrastructure preservationists.
The exhibit will be on display at Orlando Science Center through spring 2014.
If you've been following our weekly installments about “Corrosion: The Silent Menace,” you already know that corrosion is a serious issue in the U.S. America’s infrastructure gets a report card every year, and its current grade is a D!
This problem is met with dire consequences. The corrosion that is attacking America’s infrastructure is causing more than 25 percent of our bridges to fail. 800,000 corroded water pipes are ready to burst, and these rusty pipes are leaking seven billion gallons of drinking water every day! Sadly, these issues aren't even the half of it.
“An essential element in developing improved corrosion control and management practices throughout the national infrastructure is better education of the nation's engineers.” - Committee of Assessing Corrosion Education of the National Research Council (2009).
The corrosion crisis in America is growing faster than we can fix it. Corrosion endangers our nation’s safety and economy, causing broken infrastructure, oil leaks and even one-half of power outages. More than one-fourth of the bridges in the country are structurally deficient due to corrosion.
As the saying goes, an ounce of prevention is worth a pound of cure. This is certainly true when it comes to corrosion prevention.
The correct approach to keeping corrosion at bay helps save both money and lives. Although many corrosion prevention techniques are costly, they more than pay for themselves by increasing the safety of our infrastructure and lowering maintenance costs.
Just in time for the opening of our exhibit “Corrosion: The Silent Menace” comes the world’s largest corrosion conference, right here in Orlando!
NACE International, The Corrosion Society, is hosting its annual CORROSION 2013 Convention and Expo at the Orange County Convention Center March 17-21. Industry leaders, corrosion engineers, pipeline operators, government officials and corrosion researchers will come together to discuss the threats of corrosion, learn about new technologies that fight it and ways that people and businesses can prevent corrosion from attacking pipelines, bridges, airplanes, buildings and more.
Orlando Science Center • 777 E. Princeton Street • Orlando, Florida 32803 • Phone: 407.514.2000 • Toll Free: 888.OSC.4FUN • Email: gservices@osc.org Supported by the City of Orlando, Orange County, and United Arts of Central Florida with funds from the United Arts campaign and the State of Florida, Department of State, Division of Cultural Affairs and the Florida Arts Council, and the National Endowment for the Arts. Privacy Policy
