Your company’s infrastructure and its integrity and safety heavily rely on proactive preventative measures. Not only does protecting your infrastructure ensure the safety of staff and longevity of your building, but it guarantees you earn more for your investment. One hazard that companies must protect their buildings from is localized corrosion.
What Is Localized Corrosion?
Localized corrosion implies an intense, accelerated attack on a passive metal surface while its surrounding materials corrode at a much slower rate. This may occur because of natural properties’ response to elements or a different environmental effect. There are several different types of localized corrosion that your infrastructure may fall subject to, including:
- Pitting
- Stress corrosion cracking
- Chloride stress corrosion
- Caustic stress corrosion
- Primary side stress corrosion
- Intergranular attack corrosion
Dreiym Engineering explores what you can do about localized corrosion to protect your building, your staff, and your company’s finances from a faltering infrastructure.
How To Protect Your Infrastructure Against Localized Corrosion
Fortunately for you and your business, there are preventative measures when it comes to localized corrosion. Let’s dive into a few different methods of protection below.
Assess and Adjust the Environment
Some environments have high concentrations of chloride ions and dissolved oxygen, which can perturb infrastructure materials. You should optimize your building’s atmosphere when possible. For example, get a soil test before construction begins to check whether the soil contains contaminants that might harm your building materials.
Use Cathodic Protection
With cathodic protection, a sacrificial metal undergoes corrosion instead of your building’s structure. The sacrificial metal is connected to the building metal that’s at risk of corrosion to protect it. This approach is used by companies worldwide to better protect pipelines, treatment plants, storage tanks, and much more.
Choose Materials With Better Corrosion Resistance
Another thing you can do about localized corrosion is reassess your building components. Some infrastructure metals fare better against corrosion than others. Invest in materials that are known to withstand corrosive environments well.
If you’re in need of a reliable cathodic protection contractor, reach out to Dreiym Engineering. With our team’s vast expertise in cathodic protection and high standards for thorough corrosion surveys, you can be sure you’re making a quality investment. With the help of our resources, you can improve the safety of employees, ensure the health of your building, and maintain the value of your infrastructure.
