Importance of Corrosion DACCO SCI, INC.

DACCO SCI, INC.

Corrosion Engineering · Materials Technology · Electrochemistry

Importance of Corrosion

Corrosion costs are estimated at 4.2% of the Gross Domestic Product (GDP) or over $300 billion in the United States each year. Of this amount, 35% or over $100 billion can be classified as avoidable because best practices are not used. ["Economic Effects of Metallic Corrosion in the United States: A 1995 Update," Batelle (Columbus, OH, April 1995)].

	Military and commercial air fleets are aging. Over 50% of the USAF fleet is more than 20 years old. Some of these aircraft are projected to remain in service until they are 70-80 years old. Although civilian aircraft are generally younger, approximately 33% of U.S. fleet is more than 20 years old.
Aircraft corrosion can be costly in terms of dollars and lives.
USAF corrosion costs are $250K to $1M per plane per year. Corrosion contributed to 11 military and 70 civilian fatalities over a 17 year period. [Hoeppner et al., Proc. 18th Symp. Inter. Comm. Aeronautical Fatigue (Melbourne, Australia, May 1995.] More recently, the NSTB ruled that undetected corrosion was responsible for the crash of an Embracer 120 with 10 fatalities. In 1997, 50 fatalities resulted from a Russian passenger jet breaking apart in flight, reportedly because of extensive corrosion.

Over 100,000 bridges are considered structurally deficient.
Undetected corrosion caused the collapse of the Point Pleasant Bridge over the Ohio River in 1967 and the Mianus River Bridge of I-95 in Connecticut in 1983. Forty-nine fatalities resulted from these bridge failures.
Pipelines and storage tanks have similar corrosion issues. Of particular concern are leaks that allow contamination of the environment. Two companies were recently fined a total of $64.5 million by the USEPA and the Brazilian government for oil spills from corroded pipes that polluted streams, lakes, and bays.
The breakup and sinking of the tanker Erika off France in 1999 was attributed to a corroded bulkhead. Eight thousand tons of fuel oil leaked and polluted 400-km (250 miles) of coastline.