The conservation Oxide and Conversion coated metals

I’ve been lucky enough to get some time at the Getty Conservation Institute to carry out the following projects. Thank you Getty Foundation for the funding.

I will update progress on this page.

The characterisation and conservation of conversion coatings on modern metals

Project description

The project came out of a desire to update the 1993 article by Adams and Hallam and the obvious need that was seen during the Aluminum Conference in April 2014 for a guide to the identification of coatings on modern metals.

Expected outcomes

Hence the project aims to;

• Produce a review article on the conservation of oxide coatings on Modern Metals

• Construct an article on the history and technology of oxide coatings on modern metals  aimed at the objects conservation community.

• Produce a identification flow chart which could be developed into an online decision aid.

Methodology

• Review relevant literature.

• Survey the needs of the conservation community the online surveys.

• Gather published, unpublished and historical information into a bibliographic database

• Write review articles (Getty)

• Publish review articles  

• Look for information in parallel field such as military and forensic sciences.

• Develop and test decision tree both in workshops and online. (Getty)

• Publish decision tree in an online form

Project contribution to the advancement of the field

The awareness of oxide coatings importance to the aesthetic and function of modern metals in the conservation and curatorial fields is still minimal. Traditional techniques are still used to conserve steel, zinc and aluminium.

The ability to understand, recognize and conserve such coating will be useful in the following fields;

• art conservation

• technology conservation

• architecture

• historic objects