Umair Aftab

Lecture 01 - 03
 To one degree or another, most materials experience
some type of interaction with a large number of
diverse environments.
 Often, such interactions impair a material’s usefulness
as a result of the deterioration of its mechanical
properties (e.g., ductility and strength), other physical
properties, or appearance.
 Occasionally, to the chagrin of a design engineer, the
degradation behavior of a material for some
application is ignored, with adverse consequences.
 Corrosion is defined as the deterioration of a material
because of reaction with its environment.
 Some insist that corrosion should be restricted to
metals, but often engineers consider both metals and
non-metals.
 For instance,
 Destruction of paint and rubber by sunlight or
chemicals,
 Fluxing of the lining of a steelmaking furnace
 Attack of a solid metal by another molten metal
(liquid metal corrosion)
 Corrosion can be fast or slow.
 MATERIALS

METALS POLYMERS CERAMICS COMPOSITE

Deteriorative mechanisms are different for the three material types.

 In metals, there is actual material loss either by
dissolution or by the formation of nonmetallic scale or
film (oxidation).

 Corrosion is defined as the destructive and

unintentional attack of a metal.

 It is electrochemical and ordinarily begins at the

surface.
 The problem of metallic corrosion is one of significant
proportions.

 In economic terms, it has been estimated that

approximately 5% of an industrialized nation’s income
is spent on corrosion prevention and the maintenance
or replacement of products lost or contaminated as a
result of corrosion reactions.

 The consequences of corrosion are all too common.

 Familiar examples include the rusting of automotive

body panels and radiator and exhaust components.
 Ceramic materials are relatively resistant to
deterioration, which usually occurs at elevated
temperatures or in rather extreme environments.
 The process is frequently also called corrosion.
 Ceramic materials, being compounds between
metallic and nonmetallic elements, may be thought of
as having already been corroded.
 Thus, they are exceedingly resistant to corrosion by
almost all environments, especially at room
temperature.
 Corrosion of ceramic materials generally involves
simple chemical dissolution.
 Ceramic materials are frequently utilized because of
their resistance to corrosion.
 Glass is often used to contain liquids for this reason.
 Refractory ceramics must not only withstand high
temperatures and provide thermal insulation but, in
many instances, must resist high-temperature attack
by molten metals, salts, slags, and glasses.
 Ceramic materials are much better suited to withstand
most of these environments for reasonable time
periods than are metals.
 For polymers, mechanisms and consequences differ
from those for metals and ceramics, and the term
degradation is most frequently used.
 Polymers may dissolve when exposed to a liquid
solvent, or they may absorb the solvent and swell.
 Also, electromagnetic radiation (primarily ultraviolet)
and heat may cause alterations in their molecular
structure.
 An undesirable interaction is specified as
degradation rather than corrosion because the
processes are basically dissimilar.
 METALLIC CORROSION ELECTROCHEMICAL REACTIONS
 POLYMERIC CORROSION PHYSIOCHEMICAL REACTIONS

 Polymers may deteriorate by swelling and dissolution.

 Covalent bond rupture, as a result of
 Heat energy,
 Chemical reactions
 Radiation
 It should also be mentioned that because of the chemical
complexity of polymers, their degradation mechanisms are not
well understood.
 Corrosion is a interdisciplinary subject.
 It combines elements of
 PHYSICS
 CHEMISTRY
 METALLURGY
 ELECTRONICS
 Natural process is governed by the energy changes.
 Corrosion is caused by nature and is governed by the
energy changes.
 Enthalpy is a measure of the total energy of
a thermodynamic system. It includes the internal
energy, which is the energy required to create a
system, and the amount of energy required to make
room for it by displacing its environment and
establishing its volume and pressure.

 Entropy is a thermodynamic property that is a

measure of the energy not available for useful work in
a thermodynamic process.

 The free energy is the amount of work that

a thermodynamic system can perform.
 Study of energy change is called
THERMODYNAMICS.
 All Spontaneous
changes occur with a
release of free energy
from system to its
surrounding.
 As it is said “ENERGY
CANNOT BE
CREATED NOR BE
DESTROYED”.
(1st Law of thermodynamics)
 Heat will not flow of its own accord from a cold place
to a hot place , it is necessary to supply energy to the
system.
 There are many forms of energy but driving force for
corrosion comes from chemical energy.
 Chemical bond energy is the internal energy.
 Only part of internal energy is free energy which take
part in the reaction.
 In spontaneous reactions the free energy of reactant is
higher than the product.