Principles of marine corrosion

Abstract

Seawater is an aggressive environment for materials particularly in warmer and polluted waters. In this environment, steel infrastructure, such as offshore platforms, pipelines, and tanks may corrode quickly, and for engineering and management purposes, the rate at which this occurs is of interest. Here, recently developed understanding of the corrosion processes over extended exposure periods is reviewed and recently developed science-based mathematical models for the prediction of corrosion and pitting of structural steels are described. The effect of various influencing factors is reviewed, including that of seawater quality and the effect of microorganisms on corrosion. Also, short discussions of the corrosion of stainless steels, aluminum, and copper-nickels, all materials that are used under marine exposure conditions, are given. This is followed by a description of recent observations of the corrosion of steel reinforcing bars in reinforced concrete, another widely used construction material in marine environments. It shows that reinforced concrete.