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Feature

Understanding localized corrosion

26 September 2008
G.S. Frankel and N. Sridhar

The breakdown of a protective passive film leading to accelerated dissolution at localized sites is an important practical issue and a vexing scientific problem

Localized corrosion is the accelerated attack of a passive metal in a corrosive environment at discrete sites where the otherwise protective passive film has broken down. Common forms of localized corrosion include pitting on a boldly exposed surface, corrosion in a creviced region shielded from the bulk environment, intergranular corrosion of an alloy with a susceptible grain boundary region, and exfoliation corrosion, which is a form of intergranular corrosion involving the prying apart of elongated grains by a voluminous grain boundary corrosion product.

 

This article is featured in:
Metals and alloys

 

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