The physical and economic effects of corrosion

• Ferrous and non-ferrous metals corrode on contact with both fresh and salt water as well as water vapor. They will also corrode when they come in contact with chemicals, liquid acids as well as acidic vapors, salts and bases, and bacteria.
• Corrosion is also found in electronics from circuit breakers and contactors to wire bond connectors and soldered components on a printed circuit board. Electrical connectors and plugs are very prone to corrosion as well as non-ferrous metals and alloys such as copper and aluminum. For purposes here, corrosion can be defined as a chemical or electrochemical reaction between a material, usually a metal, and its environment that produces a deterioration of the material and its properties.
• Corrosion is an increasingly serious and costly problem that can lead to plant and equipment failures as well as steel bridges, ships, and buildings. These failures range from being an annoyance to being catastrophic. Failures caused by corrosion could and do lead to a direct failure of a component which could affect the entire system and can not only be very expensive in terms of down time to repair or replace plant and equipment, but can also prove to be very costly in loss of productivity but to human life and health as well as to the environment.

Important Questions

The questions to be asked by both government and private industry are:

• Is the investment in corrosion control and prevention worth the cost?
• Does the return on investment in Corrosion Prevention and Control out weight the money lost in man hours to repair or replace a piece of equipment as well as the money lost through that piece of equipment being out of service?
• What is the cost to replace a bridge because of corrosion vs. the man hour cost of corrosion control?
• What is the indirect cost of having to replace a bridge?
• What is the cost of corrosion prevention to an electrical company and Is it cheaper and less disruptive to have a routine maintenance program spray of SuperCORR A on electrical cannon plugs to prevent corrosion failures and loss of electrical power?