Title

THE IMPACT OF CORROSION ON SOCIETY

THE IMPACT OF CORROSION ON SOCIETY

Authorship

HANSSON, CAROLYN

HANSSON, CAROLYN

I am this author

DOI

10.5151/2594-5327-38869

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Abstract

Almost all metals and alloys are unstable in the Earth’s atmosphere and will always be susceptible to corrosion, i.e. conversion to a lower energy inorganic compound, such as carbonate, sulphide or oxide, depending on the environment. Thus, the metals and alloys used by engineers today are all in a metastable state and will corrode unless steps are taken to prevent the corrosion. Unfortunately, while this fact is known by the majority of engineers, it is often not taken into account in the design and operation of many systems. There are three aspects to impact of corrosion on society: (i) direct effects resulting in injury or death; (ii) contamination of the environment and (iii) the financial costs. These will be described together with a discussion of what can be done to minimize the corrosion of the civil infrastructure and the obstacles in implementing these measures.

Almost all metals and alloys are unstable in the Earth’s atmosphere and will always be susceptible to corrosion, i.e. conversion to a lower energy inorganic compound, such as carbonate, sulphide or oxide, depending on the environment. Thus, the metals and alloys used by engineers today are all in a metastable state and will corrode unless steps are taken to prevent the corrosion. Unfortunately, while this fact is known by the majority of engineers, it is often not taken into account in the design and operation of many systems. There are three aspects to impact of corrosion on society: (i) direct effects resulting in injury or death; (ii) contamination of the environment and (iii) the financial costs. These will be described together with a discussion of what can be done to minimize the corrosion of the civil infrastructure and the obstacles in implementing these measures.

Keywords

Almost all metals and alloys

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