Technical Information > Corrosion Resistance

Corrosion Resistance

Combat the Effects of Corrosion

An estimated $300 billion is lost to corrosion every year. Corrosion resistant coatings are important tools to combat the effects of corrosion in many manufacturing and maintenance environments.

There are two basic types of corrosion that our coatings combat - Oxidation and Chemical Corrosion.

 About Oxidation

Steel corrodes in reaction with its environment because of the unstable condition of iron after it has been removed from its ores. Eventually, balance must be restored by return of the unstable metal to its oxidized state. In the case of steel this usually appears as oxidation, otherwise known as rust.

How Coatings Resist Oxidation

There are two different mechanisms by which coatings resist oxidation:

Barrier Coatings provide a barrier through which it is difficult for oxygen to permeate the coating to the substrate. Since oxidation can only take place when oxygen is present, eliminating or reducing the amount of oxygen stops or greatly reduces the rate of oxidation.

Examples of barrier coatings whose primary characteristic is corrosion resistance are high build epoxies and polymer coatings such as nylon and fluoropolymers (e.g. Teflon ^®).

Sacrificial Coatings sacrifice themselves in order to protect the substrate. They do this because they are lower on the noble scale than the substrate (i.e. gold corrodes very slowly, stainless steel corrodes faster than gold, mild carbon steel corrodes faster than stainless steel, zinc corrodes faster than mild carbon steel, aluminum corrodes faster than zinc and magnesium corrodes faster than aluminum).

Examples of sacrificial coatings whose primary characteristic is corrosion resistance are thermal spray aluminum (TSA), thermal spray zinc (TSZ) and inorganic zinc.

 About Chemical Corrosion

Chemical corrosion occurs when a corrosive product such as hydrochloric acid comes into contact with an incompatible material such as stainless steel. The corrosive product acts on the substrate to attack and wear away the metal resulting in costly damage.

A barrier coating is the only way to stop chemical corrosion, effectively sealing the metal surfaces from contacting the corrosive liquid or solid.

Barrier Coatings create a barrier between the corrosive environment and your equipment. The most important role of a coating is the isolation from the environment, but if complete isolation can not be achieved due to pores, scratching or other discontinuities some coatings can still suppress the rate of corrosion.

When your primary consideration is chemical corrosion resistance, consider using our services to apply a coating that will meet your needs. ICS TECHNOLOGIES understands the process of chemical corrosion. This understanding provides us with the key to steps that must be taken to prevent chemical corrosion from occurring and identify the coating that best meets your needs.

Let ICS TECHNOLOGIES help prevent your company from becoming a corrosion statistic. For a recommendation on any particular coating, please contact ICS TECHNOLOGIES.

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