Faculty of Engineering - Chemical Engineering Department

Diploma Course title: Corrosion Engineering

Lecture 2:

Forms of Corrosion

Fakhri Hamdullah Ibraheem

fakhri.ibraheem@koyauniversity.org
Feberuary - 2024
Classification of Corrosion
Corrosion has been classified in many different ways as follows:
1. Low temperature and high temperature corrosion.
2. Direct combination or oxidation, and electrochemical corrosion.
3. Wet corrosion and dry corrosion. Wet corrosion occurs when a liquid is present (aqueous solution or electrolytes).
A common example is corrosion of steel by water. Dry corrosion occurs in the absence of liquid phase or above
the dew point of the environment. Dry corrosion occurs at high temperature like attack of steel by furnace gases.
The presence of even small amount of moisture could change the corrosion picture completely. For example, dry
chlorine is practically noncorrosive to ordinary steel, but moist chlorine is extremely corrosive and attach most of
common metals and alloys. At normal atmospheric temperatures the moisture in the air is enough to start corrosive
action. Oxygen is essential for corrosion to occur in water at ambient temperatures. Other factors that affect the
tendency of a metal to corrode are:
1. Acidity or alkalinity of the conductive medium (pH factor).
2. Stability of the corrosion products.
3. Biological organisms (particularly anaerobic bacteria).
4. Variation in composition of the corrosive medium, and
5. Temperature.

Figure 2 Rusting of pipe and flange Figure 1 Rusting of iron in water and Oxygen
Types of Corrosion
1. General / Uniform Corrosion : It is the most common form of corrosion. The metal becomes thinner and eventually
fails. It represents the greatest destruction of metal. Examples of this type of corrosion, Steel or zinc in dilute
H2SO4, Atmospheric corrosion: a sheet iron roof, Carbon steel storage tank for sour (H 2S-containing) crude oil after
only two years of service.
a) Atmospheric
b) Galvanic
c) Stray-current
d) General biological
e) High-temperature

2. Localized Corrosion : It is the corrosion that attacked specific relatively small surface area, the remaining area is
largely unattached. It is usually described to the action of local cells which are caused by difference in chemical or
physical conditions between adjoining sites or areas on the surface. Localized corrosion categorized as follows:
a) Filiform
b) Crevice
c) Pitting
d) Localized microbiological
Types of Corrosion:
Galvanic Corrosion:
It is accelerated corrosion which can occur when dissimilar
metals are in electrical contact in the presence of an
electrolyte (i.e. conductive solution). The driving force for
current and corrosion is the potential developed between the
two metals. Dry-cell battery is an example of this type of
corrosion Fig 3. Figure 3 Sample of galvanic corrosion

Stray-Current:
Current that leaks from the transferring wires or electrical
equipment is considered stray current which causes in some
cases a sever corrosion Fig 4.

Figure 4 Samples of stray-current corrosion

General Biological Corrosion: Microorganisms — whether they be microalgae, bacteria,
or fungi — can cause microbiologically influenced corrosion, or MIC. Although they do
not produce a unique type of corrosion, they can speed corrosion reactions or influence
the mechanisms of corrosion to shift. The activities of microorganisms have been
identified as a contributor to the rapid corrosion of metals and alloys exposed to the soil,
sea water, crude oil, hydrocarbon fuel, chemicals . . . Fig 5.

High Temperature Corrosion: The high temperature can generally be attributed to two
Figure 5 Biological corrosion
main causes,
a) Interaction between the alloy and the environment resulting in the loss of protective
behavior, causing accelerated degradation.
b) Inadequate control of the conditions of the process, leading to overheating with
consequent reduced resistance and an increased corrosion, which can lead to failure.
High temperature corrosion control methods focus on material selection, design,
environmental changes, inorganic and/or ceramic coatings. Identifying corrosion shapes
and failures requires specific knowledge, analytical resources, and experience. Figure 6 High temperature corrosion
Filiform Corrosion:
It is localized and occurs under the painted or plated surfaces when water breaches the coating.
It begins at small defects and spread to cause structural weakness Fig 7.

Crevice Corrosion:
It is localized corrosion and usually associated with a stagnant solution on the micro-
environmental level. Examples at nuts, rivet heads a threaded fastener, coupling or joint or
metal to nonmetal interfaces under gaskets or wet insulation Fig 8.
Figure 7 Filiform corrosion
Pitting Corrosion:
Pitting corrosion is a localized metal surface corrosion that creates cavities or “holes” within a
material. Pitting is one of the most damaging forms of corrosion. Difficult to detect pits because
of their small size and because of the pits often covered with corrosion products Fig 9. Depth of
pitting is sometimes expressed by the pitting factor , the ratio of deepest metal penetration to
average metal penetration as determined by the weight loss of the specimen.
Figure 8 Crevice corrosion

Figure 10 Sketch od deepest in relation to average metal penetration and the pitting factor Figure 9 Pitting corrosion
Estimation Rate of Corrosion
1. Corrosion Units:
In the standard corrosion tests, samples of the metal are measured and weighted before and after immersion in aqueous
solution for a given period of time. The following units are commonly used:
m d d : milligram lost per square decimeter per day.
i p y : Inches corroded per year.
m p y : mils corroded per year (1 mil = 0.001 inch)
The last two units are preferable because, it allow us to visualize easily the long rang effect. These values apply to
uniform corrosion. They may be used in design only in non-uniform corrosion, such as pit corrosion.
Rate of Corrosion (CR) = (w1 – w2)/ (A . t)

w1 : Initial weight in mg.

w2 : Final weight in gm.

A : Area dm2
t : Exposure time in day
mdd = i p y × 696 × ρ metal

i p y = mdd × 0.0014 / ρ metal

weight of metal dissolved (corroded) in gm. = k i t
Where, k = Atomic weight of metal / (Number of electron transferred × F)
F = Faraday’s Constant ≈ 96500 Coulomb / equivalent weight = 96485 Coulomb / equivalent wt.
i = Current (Ampere) , t = time (sec.)
Corrosion penetration rate with reference to Faraday law = K . ]a i / (n . ρ metal)[
were a: the atomic weight of the metal, i: is the current density in μa / cm 2 , n : is the number of electron lost (valance
change), ρ: is the density gm / cm 3 , K: Constant depends on the penetration rate desired. For m p y in µm / yr, the value of K
are 0.129, 3.27 and 0.00327, respectively.
The expression mils per year is the most desirable way of expressing corrosion rate. This expression is readily calculated
from the weight loss of the metal specimen during the corrosion test by the formula:
M p y = 534 W / (D A T), where W: weight loss in mg, D: density of specimen in gm / cm 3 , A: area of specimen in in2 , T:
exposure time in hr.
Current density (amperes per square area) equivalent to a corrosion rate, for 1 gm per m 2 per day (gmd) = 1.117 n / M amp /
It is shown from experimental estimation that:

Relative corrosion Resistance mpy

Excellent 1–5
Good 5 – 20
Fair 20 – 50
Poor 50 – 200
Unacceptable > 200

i corr (µA/cm2) Severity of Damage

< 0.5 No corrosion damage expected

0.5 - 2.7 Corrosion damage possible in 10 – 15 years
2.7 - 27 Corrosion damage expected in 2 – 10 years
> 27 Corrosion damage expected in 2 years or less
Example 1: Determine the corrosion rate in gm per m 2 per day gmd) for a metal steel or iron, n= 2, M= 55.85,
density=7.88 g/cm3.
Answer: 1 gmd = 1.117 n / M = 1.117 × 2 / 55.85 = 0.04 A/m 2 = 4 µ A/cm2

Example 2:
Consider iron corroding in air – free acid at an electrochemical corrosion rate of 1 μA / cm 2 . It dissolves as ferrous ions
Fe+2 , and thus n = 2. Determine the corrosion rate in mpy.
Answer: Penetration rate = K . ]a i / (n . ρ metal)[
K = 0.129 for mpy unit.
Penetration rate = 0.129 × (55.85 × 1) / (2 × 7.86) = 0.46 mpy
Homework:
Magnesium corrodes in seawater at a rate of 1.45 gmd. What is the rate in mm/y? If this corrosion rate applies to lead,
what is the corresponding rate in mm/y?