This article reviews the understanding of corrosion interactions between alloys in complex geometries and in applications where there are significant cyclic stresses and potential for wear and fretting motion. These alloys include iron-base, titanium-base, and cobalt-base alloys. The article discusses the surface characteristics and electrochemical behavior of metallic biomaterials. It summaries the clinical context for mechanically assisted corrosion and describes mechanically assisted crevice corrosion. There have been several tests developed to investigate aspects of mechanically assisted corrosion. The article also explains the scratch test and the in vitro fretting corrosion test.

Zinc is one of the most used metals, ranking fourth in worldwide production and consumption behind iron, aluminum, and copper. This article commences with an overview of the applications of zinc that can be divided into six categories: coatings, casting alloys, alloying element in brass and other alloys, wrought zinc alloys, zinc oxide, and zinc chemicals. It discusses the corrosion and electrochemical behavior of zinc and its alloys in various environments, particularly in atmospheres in which they are most widely used. The article tabulates the corrosion rates of zinc and zinc coatings immersed in various types of waters, in different solutions in the neutral pH range, and in soils at different geographic locations in the United States. It concludes with information on the forms of corrosion encountered in zinc coatings, including galvanic corrosion, pitting corrosion, and intergranular corrosion.

This article describes dental alloy compositions and its properties. It discusses the safety and efficacy considerations of dental alloy devices. The article defines and compares interstitial fluid and oral fluid environments. Artificial solutions developed for the testing and evaluation of dental materials are summarized. The article examines the effects of restoration contact on electrochemical parameters and reviews the concentration cells developed by dental alloy-environment electrochemical reactions. The composition and characterization of biofilms, corrosion products, and other debris that deposit on dental material surfaces are discussed. The article evaluates the types of alloys available for dental applications, including direct filling alloys, crown and bridge alloys, partial denture alloys, porcelain fused to metal alloys, wrought wire alloys, soldering alloys, and implant alloys. The effects of composition and microstructure on the corrosion of each alloy group are also discussed. The article concludes with information on the tarnishing and corrosion behavior of these alloys.

This article reviews the corrosion interactions between biomedical alloys, in particular iron-base, titanium-base, and cobalt-base alloys, in complex geometries and in applications where there are significant cyclic stresses and potential for wear and fretting motion. It discusses the nature of these metal surfaces and their propensity for corrosion reactions when combined with similar or different alloys in complex restrictive environments within the human body and under loading conditions. The article describes the factors that influence mechanically assisted crevice corrosion. It reviews the tests developed to investigate the aspects of mechanically assisted corrosion of metallic biomaterials: the scratch test and the in vitro fretting corrosion test.

This article explores the use of the electrochemical and nonelectrochemical techniques for measuring the corrosion behavior of buried metals and the types of probes used. The electrical resistance technique is the main nonelectrochemical technique used for measuring corrosion rate. Electrochemical techniques discussed include linear polarization resistance, electrochemical noise, harmonic distortion analysis, electrochemical impedance spectroscopy, and hydrogen permeation. The principles of operation for the corrosion measuring techniques are described along with examples of their use in soils.

This article describes the methods of wear measurements and a model of corrosive wear in mill atmospheres. It explains the polarization curves of pyrrhotite and high-carbon low-alloy steel in a quartzite slurry with examples. The surfaces of pyrrhotite in contact with mild steel or stainless steel affected by galvanic interaction are discussed. The article contains a table that lists the results of laboratory marked ball wear tests for three types of steel balls in wet grinding of magnetic taconite. It also provides information on the mechanism of electrochemical interaction and relative significance of corrosion and abrasion in wear. Galvanic interactions in multielectrode systems are reviewed. The article presents a case history on the material selection for grinding balls to minimize corrosion loss and the adverse effect on flotation.

This article tabulates the chemical composition of iron-base, titanium-base, and cobalt-base alloys and illustrates the microstructures of these materials. It discusses the surface morphology and chemistry of oxide-film-covered alloys and provides insights into the interaction. The article illustrates the interfacial structure of a biomaterial surface contacting with the biological environment. It describes the corrosion behavior of stainless steel, cobalt-base alloy, and titanium alloys. The electrochemical methods used for studying metallic biomaterials corrosion are also discussed. The article concludes with information on the biological consequences of in vivo corrosion and biocompatibility.

This article provides a background of the complex relationship between titanium and its alloys with aqueous environments, which is dictated by the presence of a passivating oxide film. It describes the corrosion vulnerability of titanium and titanium oxides by the classification of oxide failure mechanisms. The mechanisms are spatially localized oxide film breakdown by the ingress of aggressive anions; spatially local or homogenous chemical dissolution of the oxide in a strong reducing-acid environment; and mechanical disruptions or depassivation such as scratching, abrading, or fretting. Titanium alloys can be classified into three primary groups such as titanium alloys with hexagonal close-packed crystallographic structure; beta titanium alloys with body-centered cubic crystallographic structures; and alpha + beta titanium alloys including near-alpha and near-beta titanium alloys. The article also illustrates the effects of alloying on active anodic corrosion of titanium and repassivation behavior of titanium and titanium-base alloys.

This article describes the various factors that affect the extent of corrosion resulting from galvanic coupling. The factors include galvanic series, polarization behavior, and geometric relationship of metals and alloys. The article briefly discusses the various modes of attack that lead to galvanic corrosion of anodic members. It also explains the three electrochemical techniques of screening tests for predicting galvanic corrosion. The electrochemical techniques comprise of potential measurements, current measurements, and polarization measurements. The article provides a detailed discussion on the performance of alloy groupings. It concludes with information on various control methods that reduce or eliminate galvanic-corrosion effects.

This article focuses on the testing and typical corrosion behavior of coating-substrate systems in aqueous solutions and humid aggressive atmospheres. It includes a short review of the fundamentals of corrosion, followed by a discussion of specific system behavior, electrochemical and laboratory accelerated tests, and simulated service tests. The article also contains examples of different types of corrosion damage and presents guidelines for improving corrosion resistance.

This article contains a galvanic series chart that shows the electrochemical voltage ranges of metals and alloys in flowing seawater. Dark boxes in the chart indicate the active behavior of active-passive alloys.

This article provides a discussion on the fundamentals of corrosion thermodynamics. The discussion focuses on electrochemical reactions, molten salt corrosion thermodynamics, and geochemical modeling.

This article provides an overview of the degradation of metals and alloys in aqueous systems. The importance of the hydrogen ion lies in its ability to interact with an alloy surface. The article describes the effects of various conditions of pH on corrosion including strongly acid conditions, near-neutral conditions, and strongly basic conditions as well as the effects of temperature on corrosion. The influence of the fluid flow rate on corrosion depends on the alloy, fluid components, fluid physical properties, geometry in which the fluid is contained, and corrosion mechanism. The article discusses the influence of fluid flow rate through specific examples. It concludes with information on how the concentration of dissolved species works with other variables to influence corrosion behavior.

Electropolishing is an electrochemical process that involves anodic dissolution of a metal specimen (anode electrode) in an electrolytic cell. This article reviews the two-electrode and three-electrode systems for electropolishing. It presents the equations of anodic reactions and the selection criteria of electrolyte for electropolishing. The article also describes the mechanism of electropolishing and the effect of electropolishing on properties of metals.

This article provides a summary of the concepts discussed in the articles under the Section “Fundamentals of Corrosion” in ASM Handbook, Volume 13A: Corrosion: Fundamentals, Testing, and Protection. In this section, the thermodynamic aspects of corrosion are descried first followed by a group of articles discussing the fundamentals of aqueous corrosion kinetics. The fundamentals of gaseous corrosion are addressed next. The fundamental electrochemical reactions of corrosion and their uses are finally described.

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.