ABSTRACT
Corrosion affects many sectors of the nation’s economy, either directly by material degradation or through the design choices made by engineers [1]. The annual cost of degradation of metallic materials due to corrosion and wear-corrosion interactions is approximately 3-4% of the gross national product (GNP) of the United States, with approximately 20% of this cost being avoidable through better utilization of existing materials and protection technologies (e.g., proper design, selection of materials, coatings and linings, cathodic protection, inhibitors, etc.). Table 1 summarizes the cost of metallic corrosion in the United States [1,2]. However, more important than the cost alone, metallic corrosion and the costs to control corrosion result in the excess utilization of materials, energy, labor, and technical expertise that would otherwise be available for alternative uses [1]. Table 2 summarizes the elements of these costs of corrosion [1,3].
