Materials Selection and Design for Corrosion Control

No material is resistant to all corrosive situations, but materials selection is critical to preventing many types of failures. Examples of potential solutions include metals, plastics, fiberglass, concrete, and other nonmetals.

Factors that influence materials selection are corrosion resistance in the environment, availability of design and test data, mechanical properties, cost, availability, maintainability, compatibility with other system components, life expectancy, reliability, and appearance.

Appropriate system design is also important for effective corrosion control. This can involve the consideration of many factors, such as materials selection; process and construction parameters; geometry for drainage; avoidance or electrical separation of dissimilar metals; avoiding or sealing of crevices; corrosion allowance; operating lifetime; and maintenance and inspection requirements.

Material science offers corrosion engineers design options in corrosion control with advanced materials. Engineered properties created through specialized processing and synthesis technologies give advanced materials superior performance over conventional materials and include ceramics, high value-added metals, electronic materials, composites, polymers, and biomaterials.