AF1: A Claim-Bounded Numerical Audit of Graphene-Modified Marine Coatings: From Formulation-Space Screening to Experimental Handoff

AF1 presents a staged numerical investigation of graphene-modified marine coatings, connecting formulation-space screening, filler dispersion, film mechanics and water ageing, orientation-sensitive surface behaviour, active-agent transport, fouling dynamics and hydrodynamic-proxy evaluation. The report consolidates the AF1.1–AF1.12 research sequence, including corrective audits, candidate selection and preparation for laboratory testing.

The study separates numerical validity, model-conditional performance and physical evidence. Failed controls and negative findings are retained alongside successful comparisons. The correction history addresses topology-detector calibration, paired no-graphene comparators, mechanical exposure-time normalization, surface-orientation assumptions and stochastic provenance.

Initial screening admits 225,876 of 500,000 provisional candidates. An inverse prioritization stage produces a queue of 128 candidates for forward evaluation; successive confirmation studies identify 21 candidates that satisfy the complete hydrodynamic-target cascade. All 21 retain admission at an intermediate grid. Eight preselected candidates and two separately designated references are then evaluated at the final grid, where all ten retain admission. Across these finalists, the minimum scenario-median reduction in the hydrodynamic proxy ranges from approximately 1.096% to 1.531%. These are selected, model-conditional results, not measurements of vessel resistance or fuel savings.

The biological branch does not establish robust suppression under its original strong-effect criterion, and the tested near-surface active-exposure extension does not restore biological acceptance. The later positive hydrodynamic-proxy results concern a different endpoint and do not overturn these negative findings. The selected final family contains no modelled active biocide; this is an outcome of the tested selection process, not a general conclusion about the necessity or effectiveness of biocides.

The numerical programme concludes with five role-diverse candidates, five paired no-graphene controls and five reserve finalists. A proposed laboratory programme distinguishes coating integrity, water resistance and removal of standardized attachments, with a separate module for species-specific biological testing. Physical realization remains an engineering hypothesis, and economic evaluation remains pending measured inputs.

This record contains the English and Russian author versions of the same technical research report, public edition 1.1. The public release presents symbolic model structure, selected aggregate results, figures and scientific interpretation. Exact formulations, proprietary manufacturing procedures, source code and raw simulation records are not disclosed.