Material science in the service of monument protection: For museums and voluntary associations that want to preserve ships as maritime cultural assets and make them accessible, cost-intensive corrosion measurements and corrosion control regularly pose an enormous financial challenge. Using the former whaler "RAU IX" from 1939 as an example, a sustainable and cost-saving method is now to be developed for maintaining ships like this in the future. 

Dr.-Ing. Andree Irretier is helping to develop a measurement method for determining the thickness of the hull walls over a large area using infrared thermography. In the future, this could allow potential weak points to be checked reliably and non-destructively at an early stage, particularly in areas that are difficult to access. New milestones for museum ships: As part of a regional research project of the German Maritime Museum / Leibniz Institute of Maritime History, significant progress is being made in the research and preservation of museum ships. The Leibniz-IWT is contributing its scientific expertise in this context. 

Click here for the press release.

Picture: (C) DSM / Dr. Lars Kröger