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What are some examples of corrosion?

Joe Hall, BSc Chemistry, MSc Corrosion Engineering, MSc Pipeline Engineering
Updated Jul 21 2018 · Author has 5.4k answers and 3m answer views

Originally Answered: What are the examples of corrosion?

There are 8 types of corrosion.

1. General, or uniform corrosion. Eg. The rusting of steel in the atmosphere.

2. Localised corrosion : Pitting corrosion & crevice corrosion. An example of Pitting

corrosion may occur on metals that have a passive film. Eg. The Pitting of stainless
steels in chloride containing water Eg. seawater. Deep pits will perforate the pipe
wall. Extreme Value Statistices is a mathematical method used to predict when the
pipe will start leaking due to pitting. Crevice corrosion is the other type of localised
corrosion. It
may occur in threaded or in rivited connections. Eg. In the tiny space between a nut
and a threaded bolt where a thin film of water will settle in humid environments.

3. Galvanic corrosion / bimetallic corrosion : this is corrosion initiated by dissimilar

metals in electrochemical contact with each other. An example is steel rivets in alloy
400 sheet exposed to seawater. The steel rivets are rapidly corroded.

4. Dealloying / Selective leaching. This is characterised by preferential dissolution of

one component of an alloy, typically leaving a weak pseudomorph of the original
item. A weak shell. This form of corrosion is observed most often in gray cast iron (
graphtic corrosion ), and in yellow brasses ( dezincification ). Graphitic corrosion
typically occurs in mains water and sewage cast iron pipes, and in fire sprinkler
system valves. Graphitic corrosion typically goes unnoticed before catastrophic
failure.

5. Intergranular corrosion /Weld decay. Intergranular corrosion in an alloy is selective

corrosion along a grain boundary, with the bulk of the grain being unattacked. It is
most commonly experienced in the austenitic stainless steels and in high nickel-
chromium alloys. For example it occurs in austenitic stainless steels in hot oxidising
acids, such as nitric; In the Heat Affected Zones of welds; and in stress relived steel
welds of heavy- walled steel pressure vessels clad with stainless steel. Exfoliation is a
special type of Intergranular corrosion. This most commonly occurs in aluminium-
copper alloys.

6. Cracking : Corrosion fatigue & Environmental cracking. Synergistic action of

corrosion combined with cyclic stress. Speeds up Crack initiation and propagation.
And unlike fatigue by itself, corrosion fatigue has no endurance limit. There are
are chloride cracking of 300 series austenitic stainless steels, and caustic cracking of
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three types of environmental cracking : 1. stress corrosion cracking, where fine
cracks occur in a random fashion throughout the metal structure. 2. Hydrogen
assisted cracking, such as sulphide stress cracking in sour service steel oilfield
equipment. 3. Liquid metal embrittlement, such as molten zinc attack in stainless
steel. Two common forms of SCC

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 7. Velocity related corrosion : Erosion corrosion, cavitation damage and fretting
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corrosion.
Erosion
product corrosion
layers occurs whenremoved
) are mechanically otherwisebyprotective
the actionfilms ( Eg. Passive
of a flowing fluid film or
environment, continuously exposingcorrosion
the metallic substrate to a high initial rate of
attack. Examples include copper in river water, carbon steel in steam, carbon steel in
sulphuric acid. Pump impellers. Fretting corrosion typically occurs between moving
parts in contact with each othee such as gears and bearings. Cavitation damage
occurs in ship's propellers.

8. High temperature corrosion.

General corrosion :

Pitting corrosion :

Crevice corrosion damaged nut and bolt thread :

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Crevice corrosion damaged contact area of bolted steel pipe :

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Galvanic corrosion :

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Weld decay :

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Intergranular corrosion and cracking :

Graphitic corrosion :

Corroded cast iron pipe broken open just through use of a sledge hammer :

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Fretting Corrosion :

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Stress corrosion near a weld resulting in a cracked pipe ;

Erosion corrosion of a copper pipe :

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Cavitation damaged pump impeller :

Stress corrosion cracking exposed through use of a dye penetrant :

Stress corrosion cracking of a pipe :

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Sulphide stress cracking :

Hydrogen damaged metal :

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High temperature corrosion, lancing tubes :

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Dezincification / Selective leaching, Muntz metal ( brass ) tube sheet :

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ABOUT THE AUTHOR

Joe Hall
Chemist. Petroleum Engineer. Jeweller
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Lived in London
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