Postgraduate studentships at Cardiff University

Cardiff University/Historic Scotland funded MPhil:
Preparation of historic wrought iron surfaces to receive protective
coatings
Reference Number: R649
Closing Date: Mar 14, 2011
Duration: 1 Year

Much heritage iron exists as structural and decorative architecture
in the public domain. Its upkeep offers technical challenges that
must be solved within the ethical constraints of conservation.
Designing a protective coating system for these heavily corroded
ferrous metal surfaces is difficult. Conservators seek a treatment
with predictive performance and long recoating intervals. To address
this goal it is necessary to incrementally examine treatment
variables to provide data from which design of an optimum treatment
can be generated. The proposed research will examine surface
preparation methods for corroded wrought iron. Historic Scotland are
funding this project, which forms part of their ongoing goal for
producing an evidence based protocol for the selection of a coating
system for protecting cast and wrought historic ferrous metals
exposed outdoors.

Wrought iron samples will be treated by five paint removal/surface
cleaning techniques, followed by monitoring their corrosion rate in
a controlled aggressive relative humidity to simulate atmospheric
corrosion in temperate climate zones. Each sample will then be
painted by a single paint system and their corrosion rate monitored
in controlled relative humidity. The appearance of cleaned and
painted surfaces will be assessed by SEM/EDX. The study will
identify the influence of the five selected surface preparation
methods on the corrosion rate of corroded wrought iron.  It will
also provide a comparative assessment of these methods and assess
their performance with a specified coating. The results will be
extrapolated into field practice.

Cardiff University Department of Archaeology and Conservation has an
international reputation in the study of corrosion and conservation
of archaeological and historical ferrous metals. This includes
providing underpinning research for conservation of the ss Great
Britain and a current 3 year AHRC/EPSRC Large Grants funded project
examining the corrosion rates of archaeological iron. Staff and
projects have gained awards for the work carried out. Conservation
teaching offers one undergraduate and three postgraduate
conservation degrees.

Project Supervisor:

    David Watkinson
    Reader in Conservation

Start Date: 1 April 2011

Funding Full UK/EU tuition fees and a Doctoral Stipend matching UK
Research Council National Minimum (UKP13,590 p.a. for 2010/11).

Eligibility: Academic Criteria: Applicants must have a 2.1 degree in
a science, applied science or conservation specific degree as a
minimum qualification.

Residency: Open to all UK/EU students without further restrictions.

How to Apply: No separate application necessary--consideration is
automatic on applying for postgraduate study. Applications can be
submitted using the Online Application Service:

    <URL:http://www.cardiff.ac.uk/apply>

Further Information

Informal enquiries may be made to

    David Watkinson.
    +44 29 20 874249
    Watkinson<-a t->cf< . >ac< . >uk

Dr. Craig Kennedy
Head of  Science
Historic Scotland Conservation Group
7 South Gyle Crescent
Edinburgh EH12 9EB
+44 131 314 0753


                                  ***
                  Conservation DistList Instance 24:40
               Distributed: Wednesday, February 23, 2011
                       Message Id: cdl-24-40-006
                                  ***