Research and Development

Our starting point

Continuous product innovation via research and development investments

Elsyca is committed to continuous product innovation and invests significantly in research and development.

Our ongoing collaboration with the University of Brussels (VUB) and other universities worldwide helps us to expand the body of knowledge on the fundamentals and science of electrochemical processes as well as to continually improve the effectiveness of computer modeling as a design and analysis tool.

In recent years, Elsyca has conducted R&D - both internal as well as funded - in several domains.

DurAMat - Durable and Sustainable materials and processing.

DurAMat is the game-changer that will engender long-lasting performance properties of Additive Manufactured products used in severe exposure environments. DurAMat research will i) develop AM components from different alloy families sustainably, ii) enable AM as preferred repair method for defunct metallic products and iii) enable AM for metal functionalization. DurAMat’s research combines experimental research with multiscale modelling and machine learning (ML) methods.

Elsyca is proudly supporting the DurAMat project by providing the VUB with its industrial modeling know-how and software solutions for galvanic and environmental corrosion prediction

MOZART - Metal Matrix Nano-Composite Coatings Utilization as Alternative to Hard Chromium

MOZART project has the ambitious purpose of assisting the fulfillment of REACH requirements to eliminate Hard Chromium (HC), a toxic and carcinogenic substance, offering an environmentally less harm and less toxic alternative to the painting and coating industry, following the Safe and Sustainable by Design (SSbD) principles.

NICKEFFECT - a new project co-funded by the European Commission's Horizon Europe programme

Running from June 2022 until June 2026, the NICKEFFECT project is led by a consortium that is a multidisciplinary team comprised of twelve partners including Elsyca from different EU and HEU countries. It covers stakeholders of the whole project value chain: scientific and technology developers, technology providers, end-users, as well as transversal partners.

The project aims to develop novel ferromagnetic Ni-based coating materials to replace the scarce and costly Platinum and ensure high efficiency in key applications.

VIPCOAT – sustainable corrosion protection through digitization

Twelve partners from seven countries have united to make the development and production of corrosion protection technologies more sustainable, economical and faster.

The European Union is funding VIPCOAT with approximately 5.5 million Euros under grant agreement no. 952903 over four years and the project begins on May 1st, 2021.

The goal of the EU-funded VIPCOAT project is to create an open innovation platform that should assist engineers in developing coating materials and constructing accelerated life test scenarios to assess their durability. Initially, the platform will target the aeronautic industry. However, it will later host interoperable applications, based on standardized ontologies as extensions of the European Materials Modelling Ontology that should enable to transfer methods and insights to other industries.

Development of environmentally friendly coatings on UHSS for the aerospace industry

The H2Free brings together a consortium of 4 outstanding Research Centres and 2 SMEs with complementary profiles and large expertise, covering the special skills, capabilities and certification expected for the project.

H2Free is a project funded by the EU Horizon 2020 Framework Research and Innovation Program and it is managed by Clean Sky Joint Undertaking (CSJU) through the CleanSky2 grant program.

PCB Plating Simulation

Supported by Vlaio funding, Elsyca develops the Elsyca PCBPlate software solution, an expert tool for the analysis and quality & performance improvement of copper plating processes in Printed Circuit Board manufacturing.

CORUS - corrosion utrasonic system

Elsyca participates in the CORUS project which has been funded by CDTI and VLAIO under the Eurostars-Eureka research and innovation program. Together with the other partners in the project, we are developing a reliable method and the necessary tools for CORrosion prediction and detection by UltraSonic testing in metallic tank bottom floors and piping filled with chemicals.

Development of new criteria for AC and DC Stray Current Interference

Supported by PRCI (Pipeline Research Council International), Elsyca develops high-end models for simulating the impact of AC and DC stray current interference on the corrosion rate of buried structures. The simulation results from these models allow for an adjustment and refinement of the governing norms for evaluating risks that evolve from these interferences.

Electropolishing of 3D printed metal parts

Supported by Vlaio funding, Elsyca develops a methodology for efficient electropolishing of complex shaped Ti alloy and stainless steel parts in order to reduce the high surface roughness that is inherent to 3D printing.

Pitting Corrosion Simulation

Elsyca participates in the European H2020 research project entitled ‘mCBEEs’. Within the scope of this project, pit corrosion populations will be studied, quantified, and modeled. The resulting models will then be coupled to the existing Elsyca CorrosionMaster platform for investigation of galvanic, atmospheric, and local corrosion phenomena.

Lead-free plated coatings for bearings

Elsyca has been a partner in the EU Horizon 2020 BeLeadFree project. This project aimed to deliver novel Lead-free bearing materials by adopting innovative design & manufacturing. Elsyca’s role in this project mainly consisted in developing suited tooling that enables plating different bearing types within specifications while using novel Lead-free plating baths.

AC-induced Corrosion

Elsyca established a mathematical model to describe AC corrosion. The model includes the time-dependent electrical phenomena, the electrochemical reactions and the mass transport in the defect and the soil. The model shows an excellent agreement with real life test data for a large range of AC and DC process conditions.

Corrosion Simulation

Elsyca is instrumental in on-going research for the modeling of galvanic, uniform and localized corrosion and their coupling effects with the purpose of developing an engineering tool fit for designers as well as corrosion experts.

Atmospheric Corrosion of Aluminum Coated Steel

With funding of the RFCS program, Elsyca models the impact on the corrosion activity of the metallic coating compositions for various liquid films (pH, Cl, thickness ...) and to explore how the developed model can be integrated with life time prediction tools for real-life structures.

Multi-ion Transport Simulation - MIOTRAS

Elsyca has developed simulation tools based on multi-ion transport and reaction models, in order to extend electrochemical simulations beyond the scope of the potential model. This model enables both simulations of advanced electrodeposition processes and localized corrosion phenomena.

Advanced Meshing

To support its electrochemical simulation technology, Elsyca developed a proprietary wrapping and surface / volume meshing approach for complex 3D structures. This technology can be used stand-alone to generate high-quality meshes for applications outside of electrochemistry, such as acoustics, fluid flow and thermal analyses.

Inspection and structural monitoring of GBF foundations

Supported by Vlaio funding, Elsyca develops digitial twins of GBF (Gravity Based Foundation) monopiles in order to monitor the performance of the cathodic protection system of these structures, in term allowing more efficient inspection schemes.