In cooperation with the danish companies VELUX A/S and Metricorr ApS, IPU has developed a new method for measuring corrosion in wood. The method can measure the corrosion rate in-situ and with a resolution of about 100 nm .

Wood corrosion has traditionally been measured by weight loss determination of the exposed metal. To achieve measurable weight loss, either long exposure times or harsh acceleration factors are required, that might not reflect the actual use environment. Additionally, the process for removal of corrosion products before determining the weight can be troublesome and lead to uncertainty in the measurements.

In load-bearing structures, metal corrosion can lead to severe danger or even loss of life. This has made the use of new materials and processes during development work very time consuming, uncertain and has lead to conservative choices during materials selection. With this new method corrosion data are obtained on an ongoing basis, which gives the development engineers a better understanding of the mechanisms involved and most important: fast results. Different material combinations can be evaluated based on considerably shorter exposure times leading to cost savings and increased reliability.