Tutorial

Corrosion and Degradation of Materials

Electrical, Thermal and Magnetic Properties of Materials
1.
Types of Characteristics
corrosion
Fatigue
Metal is subjected to
corrosion
alternating stress and relief
in a corrosive environment.
Metal failure occurs much
more rapidly under the
alternating stress than under
either stress or relief alone.
Fatigue corrosion occurs
due to continuous removal
of protective films and the
repeated exposures of clean
metal by small stress
failures

Examples

Prevention techniques

Sucker rod,
metal
hammer

Pitting

corrosion

Area which is lack of

oxygen becomes anodic
while area with excess
oxygen becomes cathodic.
Severe problems happen in
stagnant solutions.
Gravity causes pit to grow
downward corrosion rate
can increase with time.
Very destructive since
highly localized may go
undetected until failure
occurs.
Can be seen where local
failures in the film on
stainless steel may be
anodic to the remainder of
the surface.
More commonly seen on
aluminum, and most
commonly on steel in
heterogeneous soil.

Carbon
steel in
sulphide
inclusion

Water
container

Minimize or eliminate
cyclic stresses
Reduce stress
concentration or
redistribute stress (balance
strength and stress
throughout the
component)
Select the correct shape of
critical sections
Provide against rapid
changes of loading,
temperature or pressure
Avoid fluttering and
vibration producing or
vibration transmitting
design
Material selection - Use
higher alloys to increase
resistance to pitting
corrosion.
- Stainless steels are
somewhat susceptible to
this form of corrosion;
however, alloying with
about 2% molybdenum
enhances their resistance
significantly.
Avoid stagnant flow
Control pH, chloride
concentration and
temperature
Cathodic protection and/or
Anodic Protection

2. (i) Galvanic couple

Metal to be protected is electrically connected to another metal that is more reactive in the
particular environment. The latter experiences oxidation and upon giving up electrons,
protects the first metal from corrosion. The oxidized metal is called a sacrificial anode.
Figure shown below is an underground pipeline using magnesium as sacrificial anode.

(ii) Impressed current

Graphite, cast iron and some other materials are used as anodes for the impressed current
cathodic protection. Figure below shows the cathodic protection of an underground tank.
The anode is connected to the positive terminal of the power supply, the protected part is
connected to the negative terminal. Such connection makes the protected part to work as a
cathode. 50 V DC power supplies are commonly used in this method.

3. Galvanic series is required for the predictions. If both of the alloys in the pair reside within
the same set of brackets in this table, then galvanic corrosion is unlikely. However, if the
two alloys do not lie within the same set of brackets, then that alloy appearing lower in the
table will experience corrosion.
(i)
Aluminummagnesium couple
Corrosion is possible, and magnesium will corrode.
(ii)
Zinclow carbon steel couple
Corrosion is possible, and zinc will corrode.
(iii) Brassmonel couple
Corrosion is unlikely in as much as both alloys appear within the same set of
brackets.
(iv)
Titanium304 stainless steel pair
Stainless steel will corrode, in as much as it is below titanium in both its active and
passive states.
(v)
Cast iron316 stainless steel couple
Cast iron will corrode since it is below stainless steel in both active and passive
states.

4. (i) Three differences between the corrosion of metals and the corrosion of ceramics:
1) Ceramic materials are more corrosion resistant than metals in most environments.
2) Corrosion of ceramic materials is normally just a chemical dissolution process, whereas
for metals it is usually electrochemical.
3) Ceramics are more corrosion resistant at elevated temperatures.
(ii) Three differences between the corrosion of metals and the degradation of polymers:
1) Degradation of polymers is ordinarily physiochemical, whereas for metals, corrosion is
electrochemical.
2) Degradation mechanisms for polymers are more complex than the corrosion mechanisms
for metals.
3) More types of degradation are possible for polymerse.g., dissolution, swelling, and
bond rupture (by means of radiation, heat, and chemical reactions).
5. (a) For a large cathode and a small anode system, the current density in the anode will be
high and cause a high corrosion rate of the anode.
(b) For a large anode and a small cathode system, the current density in the anode will be
low, relative to the cathode, and the corrosion rate will be slight. Thus a small cathode-toanode area ratio is favorable from a corrosion prevention standpoint.
6. (i) The drift velocity, vd, is the average velocity achieved by an electron in the presence of
a uniform electric field, E. An average value is used since the electrons motion varies
periodically, in a sawtooth manner, as the particle accelerates, collides with positive-ion
cores, and reaccelerates.
(ii) The relaxation time, , is the average time between collisions of a conduction electron
with the positive-ion cores of the metal lattice.
(iii) The electron mobility, , is the proportionality constant relating the drift velocity to
the applied electric field as vd = E. The SI units for are m2 / (Vs).

7. For metallic materials, there are vacant electron energy states adjacent to the highest filled
state; thus, very little energy is required to excite large number of electrons into conducting
states. These electrons are those that participate in the conduction process, and, because
there are so many of them, metals are good electrical conductors. There are so many states
adjacent to above filled states for semiconductors and insulators, but rather, an energy band
gap across which electrons must be excited in the order to participate in the conduction
process. Thermal excitation of electrons will occur, and the number of electrons excited
will be less than for metals, and will depend on the band gap energy. For semiconductors,
the band gap is narrower than for insulators; consequently, at a specific temperature more
electrons will be excited for semiconductors giving rise to higher conductivities.
8. When a demagnetized ferromagnetic material is slowly magnetized, the first change in the
domain structure is the growth of magnetic domains whose moments are initially parallel
to the applied magnetic field and the simultaneous size reduction of domains having
unfavorable dipole orientations.
9. Heat supply = Mass Specific heat T
= 24 = 0
= 298 + 24 = 322 (49)
10. ,

where
: ;
: ;
: ;
: ;
:
24
3600
1 = (
)(
) = 8.64 104

= (120)2 = 1.44 104 2

=

5 106 /
= 57.87 /
8.64 104 /

57.87 /

(40 25)
=
=
0.00402
=
(0.0023
)
(
)
1.44 104 2
2 .
. .

= 8.58
Justification: The glass would have to be exceptionally thick to prevent the desired
maximum heat flux. Although all of the silicate glasses have similar thermal conductivities,
we might use instead a transparent polymer material such as polymethyl methacrylate. The
polymers have the thermal conductivity one order of magnitude smaller than the ceramic
glasses. A double-paned glass panels separated either by a gas (air or Ar have very low
thermal conductivities) or a sheet of transparent polymer can also be used.