Corrosion Technology Testbed YA-F Kennedy Space Center, Florida 32899 Fundamentals of Corrosion and Corrosion Control Corrosion can be defined as the degradation of a material due to a reaction with its environment.
Degradation implies a reduction in usefulness of the material.
This can be a weakening of the material due to a loss of cross-sectional area, it can be the shattering of a metal due to hydrogen embrittlement, or it can be the cracking of a polymer due to sunlight and ultraviolet rays. Because metals are the most useful class of materials, and corrode most frequently, most of this web site will be devoted to the corrosion of metals. Most corrosion of metals is electrochemical in nature. Click here for a brief introduction to electrochemistry . August 24, 2000.