General Engineering Knowledge

for
Diploma in Marine Engineering and
Preparatory Course for CoC, OEW

Lesson 7 :
Corrosion

Prepared by : Ashraf Azwar

 Learning Objectives

At the end of the lesson, you should be able

to:
• Describe the various corrosion processes.
• Describe the various methods of corrosion
prevention.
 What is
CORROSION?

• Corrosion is the
deterioration of a metal
as a result of chemical
reactions between it and
the surrounding
environment.
 Why CORROSION happens?
• Iron and steel corrode in an attempt to return to their stable
oxide form.

• This oxidising, or ‘rusting’ as it is called, will take place

wherever steel is exposed to oxygen and moisture.

• Unfortunately the metal oxide formed permits the reaction to

continue beneath it.

• Some metals however produce a passive oxide film, that is, no

further corrosion takes place beneath it, e.g. aluminium and
chromium.
 How CORROSION happens?
• There are several ways that metals may corrode:

 Corrosion by EROSION,

 Corrosion by ELETROCHEMICAL,

 Corrosion from STRESS.

 Corrosion by EROSION
• ‘Erosion’ is a term often associated with corrosion and is the
wearing away of metal from abrasion.

• Sea water systems are prone to problems of this nature.

• Increasing water velocity can reduce pitting problems in some

materials but will increase their general surface corrosion, e.g.
copper base alloys.

• Water impinging on a surface can cause erosion damage and this

is usually found where turbulent flow conditions occur.

• The water inlet tube plates of heat exchangers often suffer from
this problem. Careful material selection is necessary to reduce this
type of erosion.
 Cavitation-Erosion of Propeller Blades
• At the tip of high-speed ship’s propeller blade, water is forced
to move backward at high velocity.

• One important effect is that the pressure in the water drops.

• The higher the water velocity, the lower the pressure

becomes. When the pressure drops, the boiling point drops.

• As a result, the evaporation of sea water occurs as the

pressure falls below that the pressure of the sea water. This
leads to the formation of bubbles which is full of water
vapour.
 Cavitation-Erosion of Propeller Blades
• These resulting bubbles collide with the surface of the propeller
and they all burst causing dents and pitting on the propeller.

• This phenomena occurs on the surface of the ship propeller and

is called CAVITATION.

• The lower pressure is on the front side (or suction side) of the
propeller. So at high propeller speeds, the water starts to boil
around the leading edge of the propeller. Bubbles of vapour
form in the water.

• Some of these implode near the surface of the propeller blade

with sufficient force to blast off small pieces of metal, and
eventually the propeller becomes eroded.
Cavitation-Erosion of Propeller Blades
 Corrosion by ELECTROCHEMICAL
• Electrochemical corrosion
usually involves two
different metals with an
electrolyte between them,
e.g. a pure iron and a pure
copper plate in a sea water.

• A corrosion cell or galvanic

cell is said to have been set
up.

• If these two plates are

connected externally, a
chemical reaction takes
place. This results in the iron
 Corrosion by ELECTROCHEMICAL
• The plate which corrodes is
called the anode (Iron). At the
anode, electrons leave the cell.

• At the cathode, the electrons

enters the cell. No corrosion
occurs at the cathode.

• Corrosion occurs in what can be

modelled as a galvanic cell,
consisting of an anode and a
cathode.

• The prevention of
electrochemical corrosion is
achieved by cathodic
protection.
 Galvanic Series
• All metals are tabulated in a
table called the galvanic
series.

• A metal at the lower end of

the table is called ‘noble’
and will not corrode when
part of a corrosion with a
metal at the upper part of
this series.

• The metal at the lower end

of this series will be the
cathode, while the one at
the top end will form the
 PITTING and CREVICE corrosion
• A corrosion cell can
occur between different
parts of the same
metal, perhaps due to
slight variations in
composition, oxygen
concentration, and so
on.

• The result is usually

small holes or pits and
the effect is known as
‘pitting corrosion’.
 PITTING and CREVICE corrosion
• A more serious form of
this effect results in
greater damage and is
known as ‘crevice
corrosion’.

• Pitting and crevice

corrosion can be
countered by a
suitable choice of
materials, certain
copper alloys for
STRESS corrosion

• It is not necessary to have two

metals as shown previously to
form a galvanic cell.

• Ship’s hull made of steel with

no other metals present can
also corrode.

• This is brought about by

variations in stress levels in
the steel plate and can lead to
formation of galvanic cell.
STRESS corrosion

• Stress corrosion in modern

ships occur at welded joints.

• The welded joints are subjected

to huge stress concentration.

• The welded joint becomes

more anodic compared to the
surrounding steel plate which
are unstressed.

• The unstressed steel becomes

the cathode. A galvanic cell is
thus formed.
 Corrosion PREVENTION
• Corrosion can be prevented by:

 Cathodic protection, and

 Application of protective coatings.

• These two methods are normally used together on a

ship.
 Cathodic Protection
• Corrosion can be prevented by this method when metals are immersed
in an electrolyte.

• Small corrosion cells are set up when a metal is immersed in sea water.

• This is because of a difference in potential between different parts of

the metal.

• This results in current flowing from the high to the low potential
points.

• Cathodic protection operates by providing a reverse current flow to

that of the corrosive system.

• The metal gets corroded at the low potential point.

 Cathodic Protection
• There are two methods of cathodic protection:

 The sacrificial anode,

 The impressed current system.

 Sacrificial Anode
• These are metals or alloys that are less
noble than the ships steel.

• They are normally made of aluminium or

zinc, usually alloyed.

• They are welded to the ship’s hull by

their steel core to give a good electrical
connection.

• These anodes supply the cathodic

protection current and are consumed in
doing so.

• They normally have a lifespan of

between 3 and 4 years and
replaced in drydock.
 Sacrificial Anode
• The sacrificial anode method is also
employed in heat exchanger water
boxes where a block or plate of zinc
or aluminium is fastened to the cast
iron or steel.

• A good connection is necessary

to ensure the flow of electricity.

• If the anode does not corrode

away then it is not properly
connected.

• The anode should not be

painted or coated in any way.
 Sacrificial Anode Theory
• This type of cathodic protection involves the
coupling of an active metal to a structure for which
corrosion protection is desired.

• In this system, the active metal corrodes

preferentially and provides for the structure.

• In other words, one metal is sacrificed to protect

the other.
 Sacrificial Anode Theory
• Two dissimilar metals or alloys joined together in an
electrolyte form what is called a galvanic couple or
galvanic cell.

• Any metal or alloy, when submerged in a conductive

electrolyte, has its own unique corrosion potential
(open circuit potential).
 Sacrificial Anode Theory
• When an electrical connection is established between
two dissimilar metals in a conductive environment,
electrons will flow from the more negative (active)
surface to the more positive (noble) surface.

• The electrons that flow to the noble metal drive it to

more negative potentials (cathodic polarization).

• This current flow and polarization correspond to an

electron surplus that reduces the rate at which the
noble metal corrodes.
 Sacrificial Anode Theory
• As an example, a zinc block welded to a steel hull
forms a galvanic couple in seawater.

• As shown in the galvanic series previously, zinc is

more active than steel.

• The anodic reactions for steel and zinc in seawater

are:
Fe Fe2+ + 2e- (1)

Zn Zn2+ + 2e- (2)

 Sacrificial Anode Theory
• If an excess of electrons is provided to the steel surface where
reaction (1) is taking place, a driving force for the reverse
action will be present.

• As a result, the oxidation of metal will be slowed.

• The source of these electrons, in this case, is the corrosion of

the zinc block, reaction (2), attached to the steel surface.
 Sacrificial Anode Theory
• In summary, when a galvanic couple is immersed in an
electrolyte, corrosion will take place on the surface of the
more active metal.

• The more noble metal in the couple, acting as a cathode, will

be protected from corrosion.

• In the presented case of zinc coupled with steel in seawater,

zinc will corrode preferentially and provide protection to
the steel.
Sacrificial Anode Theory
Impressed Current Cathodic Protection
System
• This is applicable to the
protection of the immersed
external hull only.
• The system comprises of
several anodes, reference
electrodes and a controller
power unit.
• The principle of the system is
that a voltage difference is
maintained between the hull
and the fitted anodes which
protect the hull against
corrosion.
 Impressed Current Cathodic
Protection System
• A reference anode detects the potential difference between
it and the ship’s hull.

• This is fed to an amplifier controller unit which amplifies this

difference and then compares it with the pre-set potential
value.

• Any change that may be required in the pre-set potential

value is then adjusted and the amount of current is fed to
the anodes (automatically) through the reactor rectifier unit.
This unit is connected to the ships electrical system.
 Impressed Current Cathodic
Protection System
that is fed to the
• This method ensures that the current
anodes is optimum and not too much.

• When the underwater paintwork deteriorates,

higher currents are required for protection.

• Too high a current can damage the paintwork.

• A protective shield of epoxy resin is applied for

about 1 metre around the anodes to withstand
alkaline conditions.
 Impressed Current Cathodic
Protection System
• used, but in the newer systems,
In this system, originally consumable anodes were
non-consumable noble metals are used. These include, lead/silver and
platinum/palladium alloys.

• Care is required in their use in port alongside ships or other unprotected

steel structures.

• This system is also used to protect the rudder and propeller from
corrosion.

• The propeller and shafting are electrically grounded to the hull structure
with a shaft slip ring. A flexible cable is used to ground the rudder.

• When electrical continuity is established between these components

and the hull, the impressed current system will protect them all.
 Impressed Current Cathodic
Protection Theory
• In this method of cathodic protection, it involves the direct application
of current from an external source to surfaces prone to corrosion
rather than by using sacrificial anodes.

• The basic principle of the two methods is the same.

• In both cases, the vulnerable metal is supplied with a surplus of

electrons.

• The excess electrons reduce the potential of the metal (cathodic

polarization) and tend to drive the anodic corrosion reaction in
reverse.

• This results in a reduced corrosion rate.

 Impressed Current Cathodic
Protection Theory
• The general form of the anodic reactions discussed previously is:

M Mn+ + ne-

• In the above equation, M represents the atomic symbol of

some metal and n is the number of electrons involved in the
reaction.

• Excess electrons supplied to the surface slow this reaction.

• Both sacrificial anode and impressed current cathodic

protection techniques operate on the same basic principle;
the source of current, however, differs.
 Impressed Current
Cathodic Protection
Theory

• Impressed current
systems use an external
power supply (DC) such
as battery or rectifier to
supply the current
necessary to provide
cathodic protection.
Impressed Current Cathodic
Protection Theory
 Painting Systems
• Paints consists of pigment dispersed in a liquid referred to as a
‘vehicle’.

• The vehicle when spread out thinly dries to form the protective
coating.

• Normally, the vehicle is a solid resinous material dissolved in a

solvent.

• The common paint vehicles are:

 Bitumen or pitch
 Drying oils
 Oleo-resinous
 Alkyd resins
 Anti-Fouling Paint
• Anti-fouling paints consists of a vehicle with pigments which
give body and colour, together with materials toxic to marine
vegetable and animal growth.

• Copper is the toxin normally used in anti-fouling paints.

• These toxic compounds dissolve slowly in water.

• When the release rate falls below the level necessary to

prevent the settlement of marine organisms, the paint is no
longer effective.

• There are anti-fouling paints now that are effective for about
 Typical Ship
Painting
Scheme
• The painting of
the external ship
structure is
divided into
three regions:
1. Below the
waterline.

2. The waterline or
boot topping
region where
immersion is
intermittent.

3. The topsides and

 Below Waterline
• Priming coats of corrosion-inhibiting paints,
these paints must resist alkaline conditions.

• Suitable paints include pitch or bitumen types,

chlorinated rubber, coal tar/epoxy resin or
vinyl resin paints.

• An anti-fouling paint is applied on top of the

corrosion inhibiting paint.
 Waterline or Boot Topping Region

• Painting scheme is made up of complete paint

system of the hull, consisting of a corrosion
inhibiting paint and a finishing gloss coat that
is resistant to abrasion.
 Superstructures
• Red-lead or zinc chromate based primers, and
a top coat of a white finishing paint
(normally).

• Lead based paints are not allowed on

aluminium superstructures.
 Cargo and Ballast Tanks
• Epoxy resin, vinyl or zinc rich coatings are
used.

• These paints help prevent severe corrosion

that could occur because of carrying liquid
cargoes.
 Surface Preparation
• Good surface preparation is essential to successful
painting.

• It is very important to remove mill scale before painting

new plates.

• Mill scale is a thin later of iron oxide which forms on the

steel surface during hot rolling of the plates and sections.

• It is important to prepare steel surfaces before painting.

This can be done by blast cleaning, pickling, flame
cleaning or by hand.
 Surface Preparation
• In shipyards, the steel is given temporary protection
during ship building.

• This is done after the steel surface is prepared.

• On this a pre-fabrication primer is applied. This primer

has the following properties:

 Dries rapidly
 Non-toxic
 Does not give off fumes when welding or cutting, and does
not produce harmful porosity.