Despite massive efforts to control corrosion, it still has major affects on costs, quality, and performance. Unfortunately, corrosion protection is emphasized far too late in manufacturing. Corrosion control before or during earlier stages of manufacturing and processing is not considered. Yet many product failures are caused by contamination or poor corrosion control at stages well before final packaging. Modem surface analytical methods, ISS (Ion Scattering Spectroscopy) and SIMS (Secondary Ion Mass Spectroscopy), can monitor surface corrosion and contamination to trace product failures at early stages of metal working(1,2). This includes detection of very thin layers of corrosion on components and within surface layers prior to final coating, lamination, shipping, or assembly. This information includes quantitative analysis of iron oxide on the surface of iron phosphates or other "conversion" layers such as Cr, Zn, and Fe phosphates. Application of Volatile Corrosion Inhibitors (VCI's) at early stages in processing is accomplished using special cleaners and metal working fluids.

Surface contamination in corrosion and adhesion problems is not well acknowledged. Methods and considerations for cleaning, investigating, and monitoring surface chemistry and effects of contaminants on corrosion are presented with qualitative and quantitative information about contaminants commonly encountered in processing metals. Effectiveness of cleaning operations and cleaners is discussed for environmentally safe water based cleaners(3). The terms "surface" and "cleaning" are presented for greater understanding of how to approach common industrial corrosion and cleaning problems.

Subject
Steel surfaces, Water, Materials, Contamination, Metal surfaces, Surfaces, Contaminants, Surface analysis, Metals, Steel, Corrosion protection, Cleaning, Samples
Keywords:
surface chemistry, metal cleaning, corrosion inhibitors, contamination, metal processing
© 1995 Association for Materials Protection and Performance (AMPP). All rights reserved. No part of this publication may be reproduced, stored in a retrieval system, or transmitted, in any form or by any means (electronic, mechanical, photocopying, recording, or otherwise) without the prior written permission of AMPP. Positions and opinions advanced in this work are those of the author(s) and not necessarily those of AMPP. Responsibility for the content of the work lies solely with the author(s).
1995
Association for Materials Protection and Performance (AMPP)
You do not currently have access to this content.