Effects of acid fog and dew on materials. Final report

Technical Report · Sun Oct 01 04:00:00 EDT 1989

OSTI ID:7068682

Mansfeld, F; Henry, R; Vijayakumar, R

Field exposure tests have been carried out in order to separate the effects of acidic fog on materials damage from those caused by rain, dew and natural weathering. The test sites were McKittrick and Visalia in the Central Valley and West Casitas Pass in Ventura County. The field tests have been supported by laboratory tests in which materials damage has been determined during exposure to carefully controlled fog water chemistry. Analysis of the field exposure results for galvanized steel and the paint samples shows that the corrosivity of the atmosphere at the three test sites have been very low. The result is confirmed by the ACRM data which show very low corrosion activity. Since corrosion rates were so low approaching those for natural weathering, it was not possible to determine the effects of acidic fog. Based on the aerometric data and the observed corrosion behavior, it is doubtful that acidic fog conditions prevailed for significant times during the exposure period of 1/87 - 3/88 at Visalia and McKittrick. The results of the laboratory tests show that exposure to HNO3 at low pH and to high pollutant concentration increased the corrosion rate of galvanized steel to over 10 micro m/year. Exposure to HNO3 caused serious corrosion damage to anodized aluminum and the paint.

• Research Organization: University of Southern California, Los Angeles, CA (USA)
• OSTI ID: 7068682
• Report Number(s): PB-90-157496/XAB
• Country of Publication: United States
• Language: English

Related Subjects

29 ENERGY PLANNING, POLICY, AND ECONOMY
290300 -- Energy Planning & Policy-- Environment
Health
& Safety
36 MATERIALS SCIENCE
360604 -- Materials-- Corrosion
Erosion
& Degradation
54 ENVIRONMENTAL SCIENCES
540120* -- Environment
Atmospheric-- Chemicals Monitoring & Transport-- (1990-)
ACID RAIN
ACIDIFICATION
AIR POLLUTION
ALLOYS
ALUMINIUM
ATMOSPHERIC PRECIPITATIONS
CALIFORNIA
CHEMICAL REACTIONS
COATINGS
CORROSION
CORROSIVE EFFECTS
DOCUMENT TYPES
ECONOMIC IMPACT
ELEMENTS
FEDERAL REGION IX
FOG
HYDROGEN COMPOUNDS
INORGANIC ACIDS
IRON ALLOYS
IRON BASE ALLOYS
METALS
NITRIC ACID
NORTH AMERICA
PAINTS
PH VALUE
POLLUTION
PROGRESS REPORT
RAIN
STEELS
USA
WEATHERING