MIDLAND, Michigan. – March 29, 2023 – Dow (NYSE: Dow) has been named a winner of a 2023 Artificial Intelligence Award for the development of an innovative technology that identifies and predicts corrosion failures in metal coatings using computer vision.
The patent-pending technology developed by Dow’s global Coating Materials Research & Development (R&D) team highlights the growing impact of digitalization in the industry and represents some of the latest digital capabilities enabled by DOW™ Paint Vision. Built and backed by scientists, Dow Paint Vision offers data-driven capabilities designed to simplify the formulation process and accelerate innovation in the paints and coatings industry.
“The innovative minds and expertise of Dow’s global Coating Materials R&D organization has led to a solution that leverages digital capabilities in order to predict the strength of coatings formulations,” said A.N. Sreeram, senior vice president, Research & Development, and chief technology officer for Dow. “This newly standardized image processing plan will allow our researchers to predict the durability of coatings formulations to further enable the manufacturing of longer-lasting applications.”
Many critical coating performance attributes are traditionally rated by researchers using visual assessment to quantify film performance. The rating is assessed subjectively, often using guidelines provided by an industry specification or third party.
Through customization of both the hardware and software of the new imaging technology, images are captured in a consistent format and tagged with relevant experimental context and metadata. This approach eliminates inconsistencies caused by human perception and enables an accurate and consistent means of digitizing the appearance of coatings.
A convolutional neural network (CNN) model analyzes images to produce robust and quantifiable ratings. In a study performed by Dow scientists, corrosion performance predictions were validated against human ratings with an accuracy greater than 90%. The results are stored in a centralized database that is available as a historical record for future algorithm development and improvement.
By using innovative machine processing algorithms in conjunction with standardized imaging stations, Dow scientists are streamlining collaboration across our global labs and revolutionizing the testing of traditionally subjective visual methods for coatings applications.
Presented by the Business Intelligence Group™, the 2023 Artificial Intelligence Awards recognize organizations, products and people who bring artificial intelligence to life and apply it to solve real world challenges.
Learn more about Dow’s latest strides in Innovation on dow.com.
About Dow Coating Materials
Dow Coating Materials leads innovation in technologies that help advance the performance of paints and coatings. Our water-based acrylic emulsion technology revolutionized the global paint industry, and was named a historic chemical landmark by the American Chemistry Association. We offer a broad portfolio of binders, dispersants, rheology modifiers and surfactants for a wide variety of end markets. Highly experienced, full-service technical teams support our products, and we continue to strengthen our global supply chain through manufacturing excellence and reliable supply.
About Dow
Dow (NYSE: DOW) combines global breadth; asset integration and scale; focused innovation and materials science expertise; leading business positions; and environmental, social and governance leadership to achieve profitable growth and help deliver a sustainable future. The Company's ambition is to become the most innovative, customer centric, inclusive and sustainable materials science company in the world. Dow's portfolio of plastics, industrial intermediates, coatings and silicones businesses delivers a broad range of differentiated, science-based products and solutions for its customers in high-growth market segments, such as packaging, infrastructure, mobility and consumer applications. Dow operates manufacturing sites in 31 countries and employs approximately 37,800 people. Dow delivered sales of approximately $57 billion in 2022. References to Dow or the Company mean Dow Inc. and its subsidiaries. For more information, please visit www.dow.com or follow @DowNewsroom on Twitter.
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