University of Utah General Chemistry lecture on Corrosion

At the recent PGMSC conference held by Plymouth Tube Co., owner of a Metals and Materials Consulting Engineers, explains various methods which will help metals achieve corrosion resistance.

Corrosion-Resistant Turkey

This steel turkey weathervane is zinc plated and then powder coated with a satin black top coat and baked on in an oven. Happy Thanksgiving!

Preventing Corrosion in Dissimilar Water Pipes by Electrical Isolation

Connecting copper and galvanized water pipes can cause corrosion due to dissimilar metals, or galvanic corrosion. A solution is to use a fitting called a dielectric nipple (bottom photo). A plastic liner (3 in. long) inside the fitting increases the resistance between the pipes and reduces the corrosion rate.


From The Family Handyman.

Preventing corrosion on buses by treating wash water

To save expensive low-floor buses from corrosion, the Delhi Transport department is going to install reverse osmosis (RO) plants for washing the new buses with treated water. Delhi Transport Minister Arvinder Singh Lovely said the water used for cleaning the low-floor buses in DTC depots is hard and saline and it causes corrosion. Therefore, the Government has decided to install RO plants at depots. RO plants remove salts and other impurities and improve water quality. To cleaning one bus, approximately 25 gallons of water is needed. At present, the DTC uses re-cycled water for washing its fleet of 3,200 buses.

From the New Delhi Pioneer.

Bridge inspection prompts closure due to corrosion

Indiana Department of Transportation closed the Cline Avenue bridge in East Chicago due to corrosion found on a bridge inspection. Cline carries almost 36,000 vehicles a day at that spot. An inspection found the combination of the region's weather, air pollution and extensive use of road salt hastened the corrosion. In July 2008, an Indiana Associated Press review of structurally deficient bridges in the state named Cline Avenue over the Indiana Harbor canal -- the same spot were the worst corrosion has been found.


The photo shows a portion of the Cline Avenue Bridge that collapsed during construction, as the concrete deck was being placed on one span. See the Wikipedia page for the Cline Bridge here.

The bridge on Indiana 912 (Cline Avenue) is closed to all traffic between U.S. 41 (Calumet Avenue) in Hammond and Michigan Avenue in East Chicago.

From the Post-Tribune of Northwest Indiana.

Corrosion to blame for LA water pipeline ruptures

A panel of experts reported Tuesday that corrosion was to blame for an increase in water pipeline failures. The Los Angeles Department of Water and Power released a report developed by experts from the University of Southern California, Cornell University and the Jet Propulsion Laboratory which blamed the breaks on corroded portions of the aging system. See the full report here (PDF, 215k).

The city has seen a spate of major water breaks this year, several highly publicized ruptures, including one in Valley Village that opened a sinkhole that engulfed a firetruck. DWP officials said the panel determined that the city's conservation program, which limits lawn watering to Mondays and Thursdays, was not to blame for the pipeline problems. Some experts had theorized that the watering restrictions overburdened the system on the allowed days and may have contributed to the breaks.

From Contra Costa Times and NACEtweet.

IFMA Names Tony Keane President and CEO

The International Facility Management Association, headquartered in Houston, announced the appointment of Anthony "Tony" J. Keane as IFMA’s new president and CEO effective Jan. 18, 2010. His appointment will coincide with the retirement of current IFMA president and CEO David J. Brady. Keane served for four years as executive director of NACE International. From IFMA's website. NACE's announcement of Keane's resignation here. Del Doyle, P.E., NACE Senior Director for Strategic Initiatives, will be the Interim Executive Director while the NACE Board of Directors conducts a global search for a permanent replacement. The Board Search Committee chaired by past president Dr. Louis D. Vincent is being organized, and the search will begin immediately.

Corrosion of Navy Ship Exibition Models

The Curator of Navy Ship Models reports here:

In the ship modeling community there has been considerable speculation about what causes lead to corrode severely, how to arrest the process in pieces already installed, and how to prevent corrosion in the future.

The conclusion of the report is that outgassing from wood display cases (particularly hardwoods) creates a corrosive atmosphere to lead in sealed cases. More discussion here.

Other Corrosion Blogs

http://gblogger-corrosionofmaterials.blogspot.com/

Gold Protects Astronauts from Radiation

The $1.5 billion Hubble telescope has been protected by gold coatings to provide corrosion resistance and electrical connections. Nearly 41Kg of gold was used in the construction of the US Columbia space shuttle, especially in brazing alloys, fuel cell fabrication, for coated plastic films or in electrical contacts.

If you thought NASA projects were gold-plated, now you have your proof here.

Corrosion-Resistant Materials Solution for Salt Mines

Morton Salt has giant salt mines 40 miles west of Salt Lake City. They had been using aluminum fenders on their T900 Kenworth Trucks for years and were consistently disappointed. The aluminum fender could not withstand the cold, heat and corrosive environment of the Utah salt mines.

For more info, see here.

http://home.howstuffworks.com/water-heater2.htm

http://www.waterheaterrescue.com/

Corrosion and Subway Trains

A report commissioned by the Metro Boston Transit Authority (MTBA) raises safety concerns about dozens of delayed maintenance projects at the MBTA that have been deemed critical to public safety. The report states that corrosion and damage on the tracks between the Alewife and Harvard Square stations could lead to a train derailment.

From boston.com.

Russian military plane crashes

Russian heavy-lift military cargo plane crashed on takeoff Sunday in Siberia, killing all 11 crew members on board, officials said. More from the Associated Press here. Earlier this year, the Russian air force announced that it had grounded its fleet of Mig-29 fighter jets and had to carry out costly repairs to make them safe to fly. The move followed a crash in December that occurred when a plane lost part of it tail section. Officials said the accident had been caused by corrosion.

More about aircraft corrosion here and here.

Mercedes-Benz SLS AMG

The new Mercedes-Benz SLS AMG at Mercedes-Benz blog.

Um, it has the word corrosion in it.

How to Check a Car Battery for Corrosion