The effect of the air polluants, exposure time and meteorological conditions on metals corrosion

Abstract

Canary Archipelago offers a typical tropics atmosphere with no significant changes during the year. Carbon steel, copper, zinc and aluminum samples were exposed in different sites with known ambient parameters in Gran Canaria Island and the atmospheric corrosion was investigated. Weight-loss measurements used to determine corrosion damage were complemented with metallographical and XRD determinations in order to characterize the structure and morphology of surface corrosion products. The ambient agressiveness could be well evaluated from meteorological and pollution data. All atmospheric corrosion and environmental data were statistically processed in order to establish general corrosion damage functions for carbon steel, copper, aluminum and zinc, in terms of Gran Canaria extreme meteorological and pollution parameters.