Corrosion of stainless steels often produces a duplex structure of an outer iron oxide and inner chromium oxide. The effect of irradiation on multilayer oxides and, in particular, the role of the interface on defect transport are not well understood. In this work, model thin film stacks of epitaxial Fe₂O₃/Cr₂O₃/Al₂O₃(0001) and Cr₂O₃/Fe₂O₃/buffer Cr₂O₃/Al₂O₃(0001) were synthesized by molecular beam epitaxy and irradiated with 100 keV Fe⁺ in stages to 5.0 dpa. Irradiation conditions were chosen to limit atomic displacements and Fe⁺ implantation to the top film only. Structural characterization by X-ray diffraction showed that the d-spacing of the top film was expanded by the irradiation. Cation vacancy defect characterization by Doppler broadening and lifetime positron annihilation spectroscopy revealed that cation defects were present in Cr₂O₃ after irradiation of the top Fe₂O₃ film. Based on defect mobility and stability, it is suggested that oxygen interstitials cross from Fe₂O₃ to Cr₂O₃ and react with the lattice to generate cation vacancies. This transport is found to be asymmetric: no defects are observed in Fe₂O₃ when the top Cr₂O₃ film is irradiated. This asymmetry is attributed to the lower defect mobility in Cr₂O₃ than Fe₂O₃.

The changing climate with resulting more extreme weather events will likely impact infrastructure assets and services. This phenomenon can present direct threats to the assets as well as significant indirect effects for those relying on the services those assets deliver. Such threats are path-dependent and place-specific, as they strongly depend on current and future climate variability, location, asset design life, function and condition. One key question is how climate change is likely to increase both the probability and magnitude of extreme weather events under different scenarios of climate change. To address this issue, this paper investigates selected effects of climate change and their consequences on structural performance, in the context of evolving loading scenarios in three different continental regions: Europe, North America, and Asia. The aim is to investigate some main place-specific changes of the exposure in terms of intensity/frequency of extreme events as well as the associated challenges, considering some recent activities of members of the IABSE TG6.1. Climate change can significantly affect built infrastructure and the society by increasing the occurrence and magnitude of extreme events and increasing potential losses. Therefore, specific relationships relating hazard levels and structural vulnerability to climate change effects should be determined.