ABSTRACT
Atmospheric corrosion of metals has been studied all over the world for many decades, in several countries as the first subject chosen when starting up corrosion research. The reason is, of course, the extensive use of metals for outdoor structures such as buildings, bridges, pylons, fences, cars, and ships. Most of the studies have been field tests at sites in different types of climate, and much useful information has been obtained from them. Advanced research tools have also been employed for laboratory investigations of atmospheric corrosion and its mechanisms. Still, this complex phenomenon has not yet been fully clarified. In this chapter the main features of atmospheric corrosion will be surveyed for the commonly used metals (steel, zinc, aluminum, and copper). Efforts will be made to correlate the fundamental corrosion properties of these metals with test results and with application aspects, using a previous treatise as starting point [1].
