Titanium:A natural solution to corrosion problems offshore

During the past three decades, as the Offshore Industry has developed its capabilities and capacity, there has been a corresponding drive to strengthen its weakest resource — materials. Much research has been directed both to metallurgical and corrosion problems encountered in the hostile offshore working environment and there have been many repeated and expensive failures. Progressively more corrosion resistant alloys have been selected to replace the lowest cost industrial materials first selected. Frequent changes in the composition of stainless steels and copper based alloys have regularly, and in the event falsely, raised user expectations of performance. Very large quantities of new alloy formulations have been nastily put into service, with no track record of performance. Most operators today recognise that their materials package represents at best no more than a compromise and there is a continuing awareness of many problems still unsolved.