Corrosion Science Chemistry Research Article | Page 10

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Corrosion: Understanding the Basics
are too great, technological changes can be implemented to reduce the
risk. Evaluation also can identify areas where technological advances are
required in the industry.
Increased consumer awareness of corrosion provides a competitive
advantage for products with improved corrosion resistance. Through
the application of existing or emerging technologies to products or ser-
vices, advances are being made in all methods for corrosion control:
material selection, coatings, inhibitors, cathodic protection, and design.
Market opportunities are to be found in the transfer of existing technol-
ogy to other industries.
The Economic Impact of Corrosion
Corrosion of metals costs the U.S. economy almost $300 billion per
year at current prices. Approximately one-third of these costs could be
reduced by broader application of corrosion-resistant materials and the
application of best corrosion-related technical practices. These esti-
mates result from a recent update of findings of the 1978 study Eco-
nomic Effects of Metallic Corrosion in the United States. The study was
performed by Battelle Columbus Laboratories and the National Insti-
tute of Standards and Technology (NIST) and published in April 1995.
The original work, based upon an elaborate model of more than 130
economic sectors, found that in 1975, metallic corrosion cost the United
States $82 billion, or 4.9% of its gross national product (GNP). It was
also found that 60% of that cost was unavoidable. The remaining $33
billion (40%) was incurred by failure to use the best practices then
known. These were called “avoidable” costs.
Over the last two decades, economic growth and price inflation have
increased the GNP more than fourfold. If nothing else had changed, the
costs of metallic corrosion would have risen to almost $350 billion an-
nually by 1995, $139 billion of which would have been avoidable.
However, 20 years of scientific research and technological change, much
of which was initiated because of the 1978 study, have affected these
costs.
The Battelle panel updated the earlier results by judgmentally evalu-
ating two decades of corrosion-related changes in scientific knowledge
and industrial practices. In the original study, almost 40% of the 1975
metallic corrosion costs were incurred in the production, use, and main-
tenance of motor vehicles. No other sector accounted for as much as 4%
of the total, and most sectors contributed less than 1%. The aircraft sec-
tor, for instance, was one of the next largest contributors and accounted
for just more than 3%. Pipelines, a sector to which corrosion is a recog-
nized problem, accounted for less than 1% of the total cost.