Corrosion fundamentals

Fundamentals of Corrosion and Corrosion Control
Corrosion of a Coated Handrail
Corroded Rain Gutter
Corrosion on the Nose of the Statue of Liberty
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. Because metals are the most used type of structural materials most of this web site will be devoted to the corrosion of metals.
Most corrosion of metals is electrochemical in nature. Click here for a brief introduction to electrochemistry.
Why metals corrode
Electrochemistry
Forms of corrosion
Corrosion Control
Sources of additional informatio

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Electrochemistry Fundamentals
The following brief introduction to chemistry and electrochemistry is intended to give the user of this website a basic understanding of corrosion. There are hundreds of websites that provide more detailed explanations of the ideas presented-so many that we have not even attempted to link to them.
The Nature of Matter Atoms Ions Molecules Acid and Bases
Electrochemical Cells Oxidation and Reduction Electrochemical Reactions
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