Corrosion In Carbon Steel: Mechanisms And Protections

Corrosion can be defined as degradation or deterioration of metal due to electrochemical reaction with its surroundings. The electrochemical reaction denotes the involvement of both electrical and chemical reactions during the process. Corrosion will usually result in a reduction of mechanical properties of the material and ultimately failure. Metals are one of the materials that have high tendency to corrode. Metals naturally does not exist in pure form but rather as compounds known as ores. In order to obtain pure metals, extraction processes must be done. Therefore, corrosion can be termed as 'extractive metallurgy in reverse in which metals are reverted back to their original low energy state by recombining with specific elements that exist in the environment. Corrosion control methods are techniques that can be used to reduce the corrosion rates to a tolerable level. As corrosion is the result of interaction between material and environment, each corrosion control methods are unique and function in a specific way depending on the environment of the system, types of materials and conditions of surroundings such as temperature and acidity.