Stainless steels are characterized as having relatively poor wear resistance and tribological properties, but they are often required for a particular application because of their corrosion resistance. This article describes the classification of stainless steels and wear. Stainless steels have been classified by microstructure and are categorized as austenitic, martensitic, ferritic, or duplex. The main categories of wear are related to abrasion, erosion, adhesive wear, and surface fatigue. The article presents a list that proposes the alloy family that could be the optimal selection for a particular wear mode. The corrosion modes include dry sliding, tribocorrosion, erosion, erosion-corrosion, cavitation, dry erosion, erosion-oxidation, galling and fretting.

Crevice corrosion is a form of localized corrosion that affects many alloys that normally exhibit passive behavior. This article discusses the frequently used crevice corrosion testing and evaluation procedures. These procedures include specific crevice corrosion tests, multiple-crevice assembly tests, cylindrical materials and products evaluation, component testing, electrochemical tests, and mathematical modeling.

This article tabulates materials that are known to have been used in orthopaedic and/or cardiovascular medical devices. The materials are grouped as metals, ceramics and glasses, and synthetic polymers in order. These tables were compiled from the Medical Materials Database which is a product of ASM International and Granta Design available by license online and as an in-house version. The material usage was gleaned from over 24,000 U.S. Food and Drug Administration (USFDA), Center for Devices and Radiological Health, Premarket notifications (510k), and USFDA Premarket Approvals, and other device records that are a part of this database. The database includes other material categories as well. The usage of materials in predicate devices is an efficient tool in the material selection process aiming for regulatory approval.

The presence of certain impurities in coal and oil is responsible for the majority of fireside corrosion experienced in utility boilers. In coal, the primary impurities are sulfur, alkali metals, and chlorine. The most detrimental impurities in fuel oil are vanadium, sodium, sulfur, and chlorine. This article describes the two categories of fireside corrosion based on location in the furnace: waterwall corrosion in the lower furnace and fuel ash corrosion of superheaters and reheaters in the upper furnace. It discusses prevention methods, including changes to operating parameters and application of protective cladding or coatings.

This article focuses on high-temperature corrosion in synthetic gas (syngas) coolers. Extensive laboratory corrosion studies on both model and commercial alloys are summarized. The article describes the material selection criteria for long-term performance of materials in service. It provides information on the fuels with chlorine contents used in gasification plants.

Nitric acid is a strongly oxidizing acid that is aggressively corrosive to many metals. Its oxidizing nature is affected by acid temperature and concentration, and composition of the alloy exposed to it. This article focuses on the corrosion behavior of various ferrous and nonferrous metals and alloys when exposed to a nitric acid environment. The ferrous and nonferrous metals and alloys discussed are carbon and alloy steels, stainless steels, aluminum alloys, titanium, zirconium alloys, niobium and tantalum, and nonmetallic materials.

This article describes the principal cladding processes and methods for calculating properties of clad metals. It reviews the designing processes of clad metals to achieve specific requirements. The article discusses six categories of clad metal systems designed for corrosion control: noble metal clad systems, corrosion barrier systems, sacrificial metal systems, transition metal systems, complex multilayer systems, and clad diffusion alloys.

Phosphoric acid is less corrosive than sulfuric and hydrochloric acids. This article discusses the corrosion rates of metal alloys in phosphoric acid, including aluminum, carbon steel and cast irons, stainless steels, nickel-rich G-type alloys, copper and copper alloys, nickel alloys, lead, titanium alloys, and zirconium alloys. Nonmetallic materials may be chemically attacked in some corrosive environments, which can result in swelling, hardening, or softening phenomena; extraction of ingredients; chemical conversion of the nonmetallic constituents; cross-linking oxidation; and/or substitution reactions. The article also describes the corrosion resistance of nonmetallic materials such as rubber and elastomeric materials, plastics, carbon and graphite, and ceramic materials.

This article provides a detailed discussion on the corrosion of steel and stainless steel under insulation. Stress corrosion cracking mechanism, types of alloys susceptible to corrosion, factors influencing corrosion, and corrosion prevention methods, are also discussed.

Hydrochloric acid (HCl) may contain traces of impurities that will change the aggressiveness of the solution. This article discusses the effects of impurities such as fluorides, ferric salts, cupric salts, chlorine, and organic solvents, in HCl. It describes the corrosion resistance of various metals and alloys in HCl, including carbon and alloy steels, austenitic stainless steels, standard ferritic stainless steels, nickel and nickel alloys, copper and copper alloys, corrosion-resistant cast iron, zirconium, titanium and titanium alloys, tantalum and its alloys, and noble metals. The article illustrates the effect of HCl on nonmetallic materials such as natural rubber, neoprene, thermoplastics, and reinforced thermoset plastics. It also tabulates the corrosion of various metals in dry hydrogen chloride.

The ferrous metals are the most significant class of commercial alloys. This article describes the solidification structures of plain carbon steel, low-alloy steel, high-alloy steel, and cast iron, with illustrations. The formation of nonmetallic inclusions in the liquid before and during solidification is also discussed.

Molten salts, or fused salts, can cause corrosion by the solution of constituents of the container material, selective attack, pitting, electrochemical reactions, mass transport due to thermal gradients, and reaction of constituents and impurities of the molten salt with the container material. This article describes a test method performed using thermal convection loop for corrosion studies of molten salts. It discusses the purification of salts that are used in the Oak Ridge molten salt reactor experiment. The article also reviews the corrosion characteristics of nitrates/nitrites and fluoride salts with the aid of illustrations and equations.