Detection and Quantification of Corrosion in Steel, Aluminum and Plastic Materials in Various Environments with Nondestructive Electrical Method

In this study, a series of experiments evaluated the steel, aluminum and plastic corrosion through an indigenously developed corrosion detection technique. Aqueous as well as atmospheric corrosion was studied for steel corrosion. The potential use of the nondestructive electrical method is to detect and quantify the surface and bulk corrosion and also to quantify the directional corrosion. The findings from this research study indicated changes in electrical resistance, capacitance, and resistivity in the bulk as well as the surface. In this study total of 31 specimens were tested. Corrosion in Steel, aluminum and plastic materials were in different environment for over two years. Changes in the electrical properties over the 2 year period changed by 4876362 %. Also surface corrosion was quantified using a new parameter, which changed from 8.72E-07 ΩF to 2.77E-06 ΩF in 500 days for a steel specimen. Surface corrosion for aluminum and plastic changed by 1.73 E-05 ΩF to 1.78 E-04 ΩF and 2.64 E-03 ΩF to 3.59 E-03 ΩF respectively. Bulk resistivity of steel after 1 year of corrosion was 7.05 x E-03 Ωm. Bulk resistivity of aluminum and plastic after 6 months of corrosion was 6.82 x E-05 Ωm and 5.25 x E+14 Ωm respectively.