Patent ID: 7483152

Claim:
A method of measuring and analyzing localized corrosion of a substrate comprising: locating a substrate in an orientation in a measuring apparatus; taking height and spatial measurements of an initial surface area of the substrate within a height and spatial resolution to produce an initial digital surface map; subjecting the substrate to a corrosive environment for a time period; locating the substrate in the measuring apparatus in the same orientation; taking height and spatial measurements of the same surface area of the substrate within the height and spatial resolution to produce a subsequent digital surface map; subtracting the subsequent digital surface map from the initial digital surface map to give a measurement of extent of localized corrosion of the surface area; and statistically analyzing the measurement of extent of localized corrosion to determine a characteristic selected from the group consisting of corrosion depth (penetration) rate, spatial pit distribution, average pitting rate, maximum pitting rate, and combinations thereof, in the absence of laser profilometry.