Factors Influencing Corrosion

BY: MOHAMED ADIL

MECHTRONICS
 Definition
Corrosion in the most common word
means a loss of electrons of metals
reacting with water and oxygen. It is also
defined as the disintegration of a material
into its constituent atoms due to chemical
reactions with its surroundings.
 Factors
Corrosion mainly depends upon the
following two factors

 Nature of the Metal

 Nature of the Corroding Environment

 Nature of the metal
 Position in the galvanic series (Galvanic Corrosion)

 Relative areas of anodic and cathodic parts

 Purity of metal

 Nature of the surface film

 Volatility of corrosion products

 Nature of the metal
oPosition in the galvanic series (Galvanic Corrosion)
When two metal or alloys are in electrical contact, in the
presence of an electrolyte, the more active metal (i.e. metal
higher up in the galvanic series) suffers corrosion.
The rate of corrosion depends upon the difference in
their positions in the series, if greater difference greater is the
corrosion.
o Purity of metal
It is very obvious that more impure the metal more it
undergoes corrosion .

o Relative areas of anodic and cathodic parts

Corrosion depends on the balance between the
anodic and cathodic parts, if the anodic area is small
corrosion Is more and vice versa.
o Nature of the surface film
When the metals are kept open they get covered with thin
surface film of metal oxides, the ratio between the metal
and the film determines the rate of corrosion.

o Volatility of corrosion products

If the corrosion product is volatile, it volatilizes as soon as
it is formed, thereby leaving the underlying metal surface
exposed for further attack. This causes rapid and
continues corrosion, leading to excessive corrosion.
 Nature of the corroding Environment

o Temperature

o Humidity of Air

o Presence of impurities in the surrounding

environment

o Influence of pH
o Presence of impurities in the surrounding
environment
Atmosphere, in the industrial areas, contains corrosive
gases like CO2, H2S, SO2 and fumes of HCl, H2SO4 etc. In
the presence of these gases, the acidity of the liquid,
adjacent to the metal surface, increases and its electrical
conductivity also increases. This consequently, results in
an increase of corrosion current flowing in the local
electrochemical cells on the exposed metal surfaces.
o Influence of pH
The influence of pH on corrosion is different at
different temperatures, a graph showing the
corrosion rate at 22oC and 40oC is shown below.
o Temperature
The effect of temperature on corrosion rates is
complex in nature. An increase in temperature will
tend to stimulate corrosive attack by increasing the
rate of electrochemical reactions and diffusion
processes.
Thank You