Discussion Group on Cu-Base Alloys:
Steps to Be Done  

ANNUAL GENERAL MEETING:

1.           APOLOGIES

2.      MINUTES OF LAST ANNUAL GENERAL MEETING (26 January 2005)

      These were accepted as a true record of that meeting.

3.   MATTERS ARISING FROM MINUTES

      None.

4.   ELECTION OF OFFICERS/COMMITTEE  

Clive Tuck (Langley Alloys) was standing again for the position of Chairman, and Phil Dent (Bodycote) for the position of Vice-Chairman.   The meeting agreed to accept both of these, there being no other nominations. 

5.   CHAIRMAN’S REPORT

Once again, the Marine Corrosion Forum has had a very active year.  The inter-company project sponsored by the MCF has made a good start and we are well on the way to completing the organisation of the fifth in the series of Marine Corrosion Forum conferences.   It is entitled “Offshore Materials & Corrosion: 40 Years On” and will take place in Edinburgh on the 20^th -22^nd June 2006.  For the first time, we are collaborating with NACE UK for this event. 

Four MCF meetings were held during the year and Keynote speakers were present at two of them.  Svein Eliassen of Statoil gave a authoritative presentation on the new ISO Standard 15889-2 for cathodic protection of offshore systems at the Aberdeen meeting and, at the October meeting we were pleased to welcome Keith Lucas, Director of the US Navy Center for Corrosion Science & Engineering, who spoke very informatively on the subject of  performance monitoring and analysis of ship’s tank coatings.   The Aberdeen meeting gave the MCF another opportunity to collaborate with the Institute of Corrosion Aberdeen branch by jointly arranging to combine the MCF afternoon meeting with their monthly evening meeting.   

I am delighted to report that the attendance at meetings this year was higher than the previous year by almost a third, resulting in much more opportunity for members to effectively keep up to date with information and benefit from the open discussion sections of the meetings.  Regarding the content of the presentations, the subject of materials and materials selection was the most well represented.  However, apart from papers on the more usual offshore alloys such as stainless steels and copper alloys, Magnesium Elektron presented their work on novel magnesium alloys  Other subjects covered during the year were the materials application experiences of offshore and marine engineers,  cathodic protection of reinforced concrete, coating technology and welding techniques. 

The jointly-funded project sponsored by the MCF at Leeds University on the erosion-corrosion of marine alloys has been fortunate to have an industrious and proficient student in Hang Meng, who likes to be referred to as Jackie.  Under the expert supervision of Professor Anne Neville, the past year has produced some interesting and useful results which are now being further elaborated with a view towards trying to derive a model which relates the key variables of flow rate, solids content and temperature to erosion/corrosion rates.  The project is due to continue for the next two years under the guidance of the companies who are taking part in the programme.  

The MCF website and Metadex survey have continued benefit membership throughout the year.  The search criteria for the Metadex were increased for the last survey, which resulted in considerably more references being included. 

The past few months have seen the start of the organisation of the conference which I mentioned earlier.   The idea behind “Offshore Materials & Corrosion: 40 Years On” was two-fold.  Firstly, it was thought that the 40^th anniversary of North Sea offshore industry in 2005 deserved to be marked by a retrospective look at what had been learnt about engineering for this environment and what was needed for the future.  Secondly, it was seen as an opportunity whereby new companies could readily sample membership of the Marine Corrosion Forum.  We have been pleased to be jointly organising the event with NACE UK and we have also been given assistance by the Institute of Corrosion Aberdeen branch.  The planning is now in its final stages, with most of the sixteen invited speaker slots being filled.  Interest in the conference has been good, thus we are hoping that this will result in its success as a catalyst for offshore technology improvement. 

In order to enhance the profile of the MCF, we now have business cards for the organisation which are in the form of a CD which contains a PowerPoint presentation on marine corrosion and the benefits of becoming a member.  They are now being used to attract new members.  For instance, one will be sent out to anyone expressing interest in the Edinburgh conference. 

I will conclude by expressing my thanks to the Secretariat and all the Committee Members for their commitment and support throughout the year.  As has been demonstrated by the past year, their conscientiousness and enthusiasm results in valuable meetings and a continuing programme designed to give maximum benefit to members.  

6.      SECRETARIAT’S REPORT    

·      At the end of 2005 the membership stood at 25.  We lost Advantica and the National Physical Laboratory, mainly due to changes of direction within these companies, but gained Sheffield Testing Laboratories and Aker Kvaener, both rejoining after a couple of years break.

 ·      The end of year accounts were detailed for members.  Copies are sent to members with the printed minutes. 

 ·      The Management Committee have decided to leave the 2006 subscription fees at the same levels as in 2005.

 The Full membership fees are therefore £640, but with a £100 discount for those companies that pay by 1^st May 2006. 

Overseas membership and Sole Trader membership will be £400 with a similar £100 reduction for prompt payment.  Overseas payments not in sterling will incur a charge of £50 to cover our bank costs.  

 A facility for payment by credit card will now be possible, as this is being set up for the conference.

 ·         Early in the year it was decided to produce CD business cards to help promote the MCF.  These have now been in circulation for some months, and hold a PowerPoint presentation explaining what we are and do.  Members are encouraged to take away some of these for distribution to potential members.

 ·        Brochures have been produced for the June conference, and 1,400 of these were distributed as inserts in the ICorr magazine Corrosion Management, the remaining 500 were mailed out by myself.  Pdf versions of the brochure are available on our website, and on that of NACE.  The UK section of NACE have also circulated it to interested members, as have ICorr Aberdeen.

The next brochure is being prepared and will be out very shortly.

·      CPD certificates continue to be available at meetings, and we have been pleased to have the recognition of IoM3 and IMarEST for these.

·      The MCF web-site continues to provide a contact point.  The average number of visits to the web-site, for the last quarter of 2005, was 162 per day.  Links on the site enable interested parties to request further information about the MCF, or to request an invitation to a meeting.  Details of our Conference can be seen on the News page.  

·      The search facility continues to be used regularly.  Recent popular search terms have been: “corrosion, fabrication, thermal, crevice and titanium”.  All available abstracts of presentations going back to the early days of the MCF are available on the site, while the News page gives details of conferences and other items likely to be of interest to members.  Further items are always welcomed..

7.      APPROVAL OF ACCOUNTS FOR 2005

 The accounts were passed as correct. 

8.      ANY OTHER BUSINESS