How To Prevent Metal Corrosion?

Do you think metal is entirely safe from the threat of corrosion? Well, no, but you can keep them protected for a certain period or even slow down the process of rust or corrosion before it becomes too late. Highly trained and expert engineers can let you know about the practical ways that can help in preventing corrosion in metal objects. They are skilled enough to incorporate corrosion control into the design process.

What Do You Mean By Corrosion?

Well, corrosion refers to the oxidation process in which the quality of the original material deteriorates when it comes in contact with the environmental elements. It is considered a natural phenomenon where you need a metallic body, an oxidizing agent, and moisture. We all three interact as the process forms rust. The rust is basically the oxide form of the metal body, which has the potential to damage the structural integrity of the metallic body.

So how to prevent corrosion of such metallic bodies?

Well, there are numerous ways which you can employ in order to prevent corrosion.

• Protective Coating
• Environmental Measures
• Sacrificial Coatings
• Corrosion Inhibitors
• Design Modification

#1 Focusing On Design Modification:

You must understand that you can control the corrosion of the metal at the engineering or production stage. When the product is being designed, you might know whether it would be used in an environment where it is susceptible to corrosion or not.

If yes, then the manufacturer must modify the design of the metal bodies in such a way that they are prevented from developing rust or corrosion.

For instance, if the material being manufactured will be exposed to environmental elements, then the designers should make the other layer thick and sleek so that the material drains out all the water and debris rather than collecting them on the surface. Besides, the designers should focus on perfectly eliminating the gaps or corners on the metal bodies. In this way, you can reduce the corrosion as the water, moisture, or any other sort of debris will not become stagnant and flow out freely.

#2 Applying A Layer Of Protective Coating

Coating the metal bodies with a protective coating will help in preventing corrosion as the metal does not come directly into contact with environmental elements. The protective coating acts as a layer of a physical barrier. It does not allow the oxidizing agents to interact with the metal bodies.

To develop a layer of protective coating you can make use of the galvanization process where the thin layer of zinc keeps the metallic bodies perfectly covered. Besides powder coating, you can make use of powder coats or paints. These are also considered effective ways of preventing corrosion. When the layer is applied properly, it has the potential to seal the metal surfaces for years and protect them from corrosion.

#3 Regulating The Environmental Factors:

If you want the metal bodies to be protected from the environmental elements, then you need to keep the metal parts in a dry and clean space when they are not being used. If you want to store the metal bodies for long, then see to it that the environment around them has a controlled level of sulphur, chloride, or oxygen. Have you heard about galvanic corrosion?

Galvanic corrosion of metallic bodies takes place when electrodes of different potential come into contact with each other along with electrolyte. Out of the two metal pieces, the metal that has higher electrode activity will corrode the other metal. You can easily prevent galvanic corrosion by placing the metal bodies separately.

#4 Preventing Corrosion Through Sacrificial Coating

Cathodic Protection & Anode Protection

You can easily prevent the corrosion of the metal bodies by ensuring the metal has an application of electrical current to the metal’s surface. In this method of cathodic protection, the pressure of current is applied to overpower a corrosive current in the part. Cathodic protection is less complex as compared to anode protection. In the anode protection, the metal ions follow the flow of reactive metal to less active parts and hence reduce the process of corrosion.

Summary: 

Well, whatever steps to employ to protect the metals from corrosion such as protective coatings, environmental control, and cathodic protection are all considered to be effective ways of preventing corrosion in metal parts. But besides this, you need to ensure that measures should be taken for maintenance and monitoring the metal bodies or substances to keep them long-lasting without letting rust to develop on the surface.