Corrosion Briefs

April 14, 2006
Data on the cost of corrosion, including the 10 Golden Rules of Corrosion.

  • The cost of repairing corroded aircraft is 100 times the cost of preventive maintenance.

  • A 10 percent reduction in maintenance expenses would increase the net profit of airlines by 40 percent. Corrosion-Control.com

  • It is the nature of refined metals to return to their most stable form — that of a metallic oxide. The rate at which metals corrode depends upon the environment they receive. Metals exposed to marine atmospheres, moisture, and tropical temperatures have the highest rates of corrosion. Lear Chemical

  • The total annual direct cost of corrosion to the U.S. aircraft industry is estimated at $2.2 billion, which includes the cost of design and manufacturing ($0.2 billion), corrosion maintenance ($1.7 billion), and downtime ($0.3 billion). Corrosioncost.com

  • [In regards to corrosion control] an approach of “find it and fix it” has generally been accepted. This approach leads to extensive corrosion of both structural and non-structural parts, which significantly increases the cost of maintenance. Moreover, as airframes continue to age, corrosion will increasingly affect the structural integrity of these airframes. Corrosioncost.com

  • Crevice corrosion damage in the lap joints of aircraft skins has become a major safety concern, particularly after the Aloha airlines incident. On April 28, 1988 a 19-year-old Boeing 737 aircraft, operated by Aloha airlines, lost a major portion of the upper fuselage near the front of the plane, in full flight at 24,000 feet. The Aloha incident marked a turning point in the history of aircraft corrosion. Corrosion-doctors.org

  • The Air Force Corrosion Prevention and Control Office (AFCPCO) notes that corrosion prevention processes are the largest contributor to Air Force hazardous waste. Air Force Research Laboratory, Feb. 2004

  • Studies by the National Bureau of Standards (NBS) estimated that overall corrosion costs in the United States are 4.2 percent of the Gross National Product (GNP) or $290 billion in 1996.

  • The word corrode is derived from the Latin corrodere, which means “to gnaw to pieces.”

  • It has been postulated that the downfall of the Roman Empire can be attributed in part to a corrosion problem, specifically the storage of wine in lead-lined vessels. Lead dissolved in the wine and consumed by the Roman hierarchy resulted in insanity (lead poisoning) and contributed to the subsequent eventual downfall. Another anecdote regarding lead and alcoholic beverages dates back to the era of Benjamin Franklin. One manifestation was the “dry bellyache” with accompanying paralysis, which was mentioned by Franklin in a letter to a friend. This malady was actually caused by the ingestion of lead from corroded lead coil condensers used in making brandy. The problem became so widespread that the Massachusetts legislature passed a law in the late 1700s that outlawed the use of lead in producing alcoholic beverages. www.asminternational.org