The evaluation of corrosion problems (part 1)

It is a fact that a metallic article or structure must eventually corrode. Whether or not this corrosion causes failure of the item during its anticipated useful life is a matter of economics. On the other hand, mitigating the corrosion so that failures occur after the item has served its useful purposes is a matter of scientific and engineering study. Many instances may be quoted, and generally are quoted, of items that apparently never corrode (these are the successes of corrosion engineering) but, at the same time, there are many more that fail prematurely, and it is a surprising fact that these are not quoted as often as the other type.