Corrosion Resistance

The additional cost usually associated with choosing increased corrosion resistance during the selection process is invariably less than that due to product contamination or lost production and high maintenance costs due to premature failure. Without adequate corrosion resistance, or corrosion allowance, components often fall short of the expected design life.

Unlike mechanical properties, there are no codes governing corrosion properties. For some applications or services, recommended practices have been published by NACE International or other Societies. Many extensive sources of information concerning specific corrosion resistance or corrosivity assessment data have been published in the form of handbooks. Data upon which to base material selection are also available in inexpensive literature and manufacturers' publications available upon request or downloadable from the Internet.

A common form of representing the corrosion resistance of materials is what is known as 'iso-corrosion diagrams' or charts. These diagrams are two-dimensional representations of three-dimensional corrosion data. Iso-corrosion diagrams present corrosion behavior as a function of corrosive concentration (usually the abscissa) and temperature. The use of the prefix "iso" refers to lines (or regions) of constant corrosion behavior across variations in concentration and temperature.

Find more on the corrosion of specific metals or on the performance of engineered alloys.