Every fundamental approach to corrosion must take into account the properties of the metal, of the environment, and of the metal – environment interface.

Metal: composition, structure, heterogeneity, stress, etc.

Environment: chemical composition, impurities, temperature, hydrodynamic conditions

Interface: reaction kinetics, the nature and distribution of corrosion products, speed of creation and destruction of films.

The mechanisms of corrosion are complex, and an understanding of them calls upon knowledge from several disciplines, ranging from physics to bacteriology. However, many cases can be resolved by the simple application of concepts that are relatively straightforward, taking into account the impact of the solution applied on all the other characteristics of the workpiece or the installation. The best solution to a corrosion problem is not usually the most high-performance remedy in terms of anticorrosion, but rather the best compromise between the behaviour of the workpiece in relation to its environment, as well as its overall performance within a given technical-economic context.

Application Methods

There are two main industrial coating processes:

- Electrolytic process: the coating is deposited on the product in an electrolysis cell

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- Flake process: the plating is built up through a series of dipping, centrifugation, drying, baking and cooling operations

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Galvanic corrosion

The potential created when the metal comes into contact with a solution depends on both the metal and the solution. Two different metals or alloys in contact with the same environment will generally take two different potentials. If these two metals are electronically connected, the difference in their potential will give rise to electrochemical reactions and to the circulation of electrical current.

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Protection Principles

There are two principles of protection, which can be layered:

- Sacrificial: It is the coating that corrodes rather than the substrate, because the coating is less noble than the substrate

- Barrier: The coating is more noble than the substrate – it is therefore extremely resistant to corrosion

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Measurement of coating performance

In practice, the effectiveness of a finish is expressed in terms of its resistance to corrosion. This resistance is in turn expressed in terms of hours of exposure, in accordance with standardized tests known as ’salt spray tests’.

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Coatings available

LA CLUSIENNE-CLUFIX offers a non-exhaustive set of coatings – electrolytic or flake, to be selected in accordance with the application.

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