AWI Materials Research
 AWI's Materials Research Program is an ongoing, intensive investigation into the effects of severe environments on a variety of materials. A series of test platforms are installed at representative sites around the world to study the corrosion and performance effects of marine environments, salt fog, deep freezing, and other harsh conditions on installed equipment.
The studies that make up the materials research program provide AWI with the information necessary to produce equipment that withstands the long-term effects of even the harshest environments.
Recent Evaluation Reports
- Salt fog study. A 1,000-hour study of the effects of salt fog on stainless steel.
AWI-MBARI Program
All Weather, Inc. has teamed with the Monterey Bay Aquarium Research Institute (MBARI) to study the long-term effects of corrosive marine environments on Automated Weather Observing Systems (AWOS).
Materials and Finishes
Most AWI equipment, enclosures, sensors, and mounting hardware are made of stainless steel, aluminum, plated steel, or fiberglass. A variety of finishes are used, including paint, powder coating, chemical conversion coatings, galvanizing, zinc plating, passivation, electropolishing, and anodizing.
Stainless Steel
AWI uses 304, 316 and 18-8 for most of our stainless steel products. 304 and 316 stainless steel enclosures are used for several of AWI’s sensors. 18-8 stainless steel is the generic fastener grade for the common 304 stainless steel. Nearly all the internal fasteners used on AWI products are 18-8. AWI recently released “Corrosion Resistance Mounting Kits” made up of stainless steel hardware and other corrosion resistant materials for mounting the AWOS outdoor equipment in locations anticipating high corrosion conditions. Finishes that are being investigated for our stainless steel products are passivation, electropolishing, and powder coating.
Aluminum
Many of AWI’s products are fabricated from a variety of aluminum types. 6061-T6 is used for most machined parts, 5052-H32 for most sheet metal parts, and A280 or A380 for most cast aluminum parts. Aluminum is normally a cost-effective material, being readily available in a variety of alloys and forms. Finishes being considered for aluminum are chemical conversion coating, anodizing, powder coating, and combinations of these. AWI has found anodized aluminum holds up very well in the outdoor environment. The standard AWI “Fold-over” tower is manufactured from anodized aluminum.
Plated Mild Steel
Most of the current tower/sensor mounting hardware is galvanized steel. The standard “stacked” tower is painted galvanized steel. Galvanized steel fares well, except in high humidity and salt environments, such as the sea coast. AWI has recently made available corrosion-resistant mounting kits for our AWOS systems. These kits replace the standard galvanized steel hardware with stainless steel or fiberglass for locations requiring extra corrosion protection.
Fiberglass
AWI began using Hoffman NEMA 4X fiberglass enclosures in the 900 Series AWOS several years ago to mount the outdoor electronics. The fiberglass enclosures have several advantages: They are relatively low cost, stand up well to the elements, and are easy to modify. AWI is currently investigating fiberglass mounting struts and clamps to determine whether they are an economical replacement for the galvanized mounting struts currently being used.
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