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TopFinancial Impact Of Alloy Degradation
Many of the world’s physical infrastructure are made of alloys. Alloys are typically solid metallic substances produced by mixing chemical elements (called alloying elements) into a molten or a liquid metallic-based matrix before its solidification via cooling. In many cases, the alloying elements are employed to modify the properties of the metallic-base matrix. For example, the author Choudary (2003) explained that “the term ‘alloy steel’ is used to describe those steels to which one or more alloying elements, in addition to carbon, have been deliberately added in order to modify the properties of steel.” Alloys, which constitute the materials of construction for a significant portion of the global industrial and manufacturing structures and assets employed in the production of goods and services, are expensive when compared with many other types of industrial construction materials such as wood, fiber glass, polymers, composites, and so forth.
Globally, billions of dollars per year are expensed in alloys and asset research, design, manufacture, procurement, fabrication, installation, and operations in applications that include infrastructural, military, industrial, machinery, aeronautical, automobile, residential, transportation, and astronomy. Unfortunately, these very expensive alloy-based assets, equipment, and components are constantly and relentlessly degraded by natural and man-made forces. With the passage of time (in some cases, a few short years), the alloys or assets lose their functions, degrade, and crumble into a useless pile of metallic junk. Unless these unrelenting degradation processes are actively combatted, the huge funds expended in creating these assets will be and are wasted. Degraded infrastructure endangers personal safety, increases the cost of production of goods and services and production losses, maintenance cost overruns, and cost of insurance coverage. The degradation of metallic industrial assets, equipment, and components, costs governments, industries, and citizens billions of dollars a year. Unfortunately, most of the billions of dollars expended per year on the degradation of metallic components used in industrial assets and equipment are focused on mitigation strategies such as inspection, treatment, and repair – after the degradation is prone to occur or has already occurred.
Corrosion causes many problems for humankind. It damages equipment, structures, and the environment in the vicinity of corroded structures. Its cost ranges between 3.1 to 4.5% of the Gross Domestic Product (GDP) in industrialized nations. The annual cost of corrosion in the United States is approximately US$300 billion. Canada spends 3.1% of its GDP, or CAN$32.8 billon, on corrosion prevention and control. This amount, which quantifies only the direct cost of corrosion prevention and control, amounts to approximately two-thirds of the Canadian government’s annual expenditure on health and education, twice the amount spent on research and development, and thrice the expenditure on national defense. It is estimated that 25% to 30% of the annual cost of corrosion could be saved with optimum corrosion management strategies (Obi, 2008).