Corrosion can be defined as the degradation of a material due to a reaction with its

environment.
Degradation implies deterioration of physical properties of the material. This can be a
weakening of the material due to a loss of cross-sectional area, it can be the shattering of a
metal due to hydrogen embrittlement, or it can be the cracking of a polymer due to sunlight
exposure.
Materials can be metals, polymers (plastics, rubbers, etc.), ceramics (concrete, brick, etc.) or
composites-mechanical mixtures of two or more materials with different properties.

To ensure long and trouble free operation in a medium it is of utmost importance to have
knowledge about corrosion and the effect it can have on the product and the system in the
operating environment. A significant proportion of material damage and subsequent
component failure caused by corrosion can be eliminated by selecting the optimum material for
a given application.
Difference Between Erosion and
Corrosion

Both corrosion and erosion happen due to certain external actions on
a surface. Corrosion means the destruction of materials through
chemical reactions whereas erosion means the carrying away of the
topsoil from the surface of the earth.
Corrosion normally happens because of chemical reactions. Erosion
occurs by chemical reactions and by certain forces of nature. Corrosion
also means the loss of electrons from the metals when it comes in
contact with the moisture and oxygen in the atmosphere. Erosion
happens because of natural forces like water and wind. Other factors
such as acid rain, salt effects and oxidation of materials are also known
to cause erosion.
In terms of the process, corrosion is an electro chemical process,
whereas erosion is a physical process. The corrosion of metals is often
referred to as rusting and it is evident in the material itself. Erosion is
a natural process that removes or carries away materials from one
place to another. For instance, when sand is carried away from the
beach or riverbanks, it is still sand even after erosion. Corrosion isnt
like that. When corrosion takes place, the material will be transformed
to another chemical compound known as rust.
Various types of corrosion include galvanic, crevice, pitting,
intergranular and selective leaching. Erosion also involves several
different processes like weathering, transportation, and dissolution.
Both corrosion and erosion can be prevented. To prevent corrosion, a
protective layer is coated on the surface of the metal that constantly
comes in contact with the atmosphere. Terracing the terrain or
planting more trees on the surfaces where erosion is likely to happen
can prevent erosion.

Corrosion Rate
The corrosion rate is the speed at which any metal in a specific environment deteriorates. It also can
be defined as the amount of corrosion loss per year in thickness. The speed or rate of deterioration
depends on the environmental conditions and the type and condition of the metal under reference.
It is found by: R = d/t expressed in m/y but can also be expressed in terms of weight loss g/m2,
mg/dm2. day, Oz/ft2, among others. The total amount of lost thickness in micrometers is d = total.
Loss occurrence and t = time in years.
Several pieces of data must be collected when calculating the corrosion rate of any given metal.
Required data includes:


Weight lost (the decrease in weight of the metal during the period of reference)
Density of the metal
Total surface area initially present
Length of time taken
Corrosion rate is best expressed in terms of thickness or weight loss where the surface of the metal
corrodes uniformly across the area that has been exposed.

This rate may vary if the rate expressed by the function above is used to compare corrosion rates for
a period of time not less than one year with rates calculated over short periods. This is because the
short time rates are prone to fluctuating environmental changes from season to season and also
from day to day. This method involves the exposure of a weighed piece of test metal or alloy to the
specific environment for a specific time. This is followed by thorough cleaning to remove the
corrosion products and then determining the weight of the lost metal due to corrosion.

The rate can also be calculated as follows:

R = KW/ (? AT)
Where K = constant
W = total weight lost
T = time taken for the loss of metal
A = the surface area of the exposed metal
? = the metal density in g/cm

Corrosion of iron in an aqueous corrosion can be used to explain the other method of determining
corrosion rates. The iron plate is dipped in an aqueous solution and the increase in the accumulating
iron ions is measured by a photometric method, Fe3+. This is simple as the rate of corrosion is
determined.
Corrosion in nonmetals
Corrosion can also occur in materials other than metals, such as ceramics or polymers, although in
this context, the term degradation is more common. Corrosion degrades the useful properties of
materials and structures including strength, appearance and permeability to liquids and gases.
Some examples of corrosion in non metals are g below:
Corrosion of ceramic materials
Ceramic is an inorganic and non-metallic solid prepared by the action of heat and subsequent cooling. These
materials may have a crystalline or partly crystalline structure, or may be amorphous (e.g. glass). Because most
common ceramics are crystalline, the definition of ceramic is often restricted to inorganic crystalline materials, as
opposed to the non-crystalline glasses.
Most of the ceramic materials are almost entirely immune to corrosion. The strong ionic and/or covalent bonds that
hold them together leave very little free chemical energy in the structure; they can be thought of as already
corroded. When corrosion does occur, it is almost always a simple dissolution of the material or chemical reaction,
rather than an electrochemical process.
Corrosion protection of ceramics
An example of corrosion protection in ceramics is the lime added to soda-lime glass to reduce its solubility in water;
though it is not nearly as soluble as pure sodium silicate, normal glass does form sub-microscopic flaws when
exposed to moisture. Due to its brittleness, such flaws cause a dramatic reduction in the strength of a glass object
during its first few hours at room temperature.

Corrosion of Polymers
Polymer degradation is due to a wide array of complex and often poorly-understood physiochemical processes. These
are strikingly different from the other processes, and so "corrosion" is only applied to them in a loose sense of the
word. Because of their large molecular weight, very little entropy can be gained by mixing a given mass of polymer
with another substance, making them generally quite difficult to dissolve. While dissolution is a problem in some
polymer applications, it is relatively simple to design against. A more common and related problem is swelling, where
small molecules infiltrate the structure, reducing strength and stiffness and causing a volume change. Conversely,
many polymers (e.g. flexible vinyl) are intentionally swelled with plasticizers, which can be leached out of the
structure, causing brittleness or other undesirable changes. The most common form of degradation, however, is a
decrease in polymer chain length. Mechanisms which break polymer chains are familiar to biologists because of their
effect on DNA: ionizing radiation (most commonly ultraviolet or UV light), free radicals, and oxidizers such as oxygen,
ozone, and chlorine. Additives can slow these process very effectively, and can be as simple as a UV-absorbing
pigment (i.e., titanium dioxide or carbon black). Plastic shopping bags often do not include these additives so that
they break down more easily as litter.
(Polymer degradation is a change in the properties, i.e. tensile strength, colour, shape, etc. of a polymer or polymer
based product under the influence of one or more environmental factors such as heat, light, chemicals, etc. These
changes are usually undesirable, such as changes during use, cracking and depolymerisation of products or, more
rarely, desirable, as in biodegradation or deliberately lowering the molecular weight of a polymer for recycling).
Corrosion of glasses[edit]

Glass corrosion
Glass disease is the corrosion of silicate glasses in aqueous solutions. It is governed by two
mechanisms: diffusion-controlledleaching (ion exchange) and hydrolytic dissolution of the glass
network.
[10]
Both mechanisms strongly depend on the pH of contacting solution: the rate of ion
exchange decreases with pH as 10
0.5pH
whereas the rate of hydrolytic dissolution increases with pH
as 10
0.5pH
.
[11]

Mathematically, corrosion rates of glasses are characterized by normalized corrosion rates of
elements NRi (g/cm
2
d) which are determined as the ratio of total amount of released species into
the water Mi (g) to the water-contacting surface area S (cm
2
), time of contact t (days) and weight
fraction content of the element in the glass fi:
.
The overall corrosion rate is a sum of contributions from both mechanisms (leaching +
dissolution) NRi=Nrxi+NRh. Diffusion-controlled leaching (ion exchange) is characteristic of the
initial phase of corrosion and involves replacement of alkali ions in the glass by a hydronium
(H3O
+
) ion from the solution. It causes an ion-selective depletion of near surface layers of
glasses and gives an inverse square root dependence of corrosion rate with exposure time. The
diffusion-controlled normalized leaching rate of cations from glasses (g/cm
2
d) is given by:
,
where t is time, Di is the i-th cation effective diffusion coefficient (cm
2
/d), which depends on
pH of contacting water as Di = Di010
pH
, and is the density of the glass (g/cm
3
).
Glass network dissolution is characteristic of the later phases of corrosion and causes a
congruent release of ions into the water solution at a time-independent rate in dilute
solutions (g/cm
2
d):
,
where rh is the stationary hydrolysis (dissolution) rate of the glass (cm/d). In closed
systems the consumption of protons from the aqueous phase increases the pH and
causes a fast transition to hydrolysis.
[12]
However, a further saturation of solution with
silica impedes hydrolysis and causes the glass to return to an ion-exchange, e.g.
diffusion-controlled regime of corrosion.
In typical natural conditions normalized corrosion rates of silicate glasses are very low
and are of the order of 10
7
10
5
g/(cm
2
d). The very high durability of silicate glasses in
water makes them suitable for hazardous and nuclear waste immobilisation.