Open AccessCorrosion map of South Africa’s macro atmosphere
Author(s) -
Darelle T. Janse van Rensburg,
L.A. Cornish,
J.W. van der Merwe
Publication year - 2019
Publication title -
south african journal of science
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 0.317
H-Index - 61
eISSN - 1996-7489
pISSN - 0038-2353
DOI - 10.17159/sajs.2019/4901
Subject(s) - corrosion , atmosphere (unit) , environmental science , metallurgy , geography , materials science , meteorology
The first atmospheric corrosion map of South Africa, produced by Callaghan in 1991, has become outdated, because it primarily focuses on the corrosivity of coastal environments, with little differentiation given concerning South Africa’s inland locations. To address this problem, a study was undertaken to develop a new corrosion map of the country, with the emphasis placed on providing greater detail concerning South Africa’s inland regions. Here we present this new corrosion map of South Africa’s macro atmosphere, based on 12-month corrosion rates of mild steel at more than 100 sites throughout the country. Assimilations and statistical analyses of the data (published, unpublished and new) show that the variability in the corrosion rate of mild steel decreases significantly moving inland. Accordingly, the average first-year corrosion rate of mild steel at the inland sites (at all corrosion monitoring spots located more than 30 km away from the ocean) measured 21±12 μm/a [95% CI: 18–23 μm/a]. The minimum inland figure was about 1.3 μm/a (recorded at Droërivier in the Central Karoo) and the maxima were approximately 51 μm/a and 50 μm/a in the industrial hearts of Germiston (Gauteng) and Sasolburg (Free State), respectively. The variability in the corrosion rate of mild steel also decreased by as much as 80% between 150 m and 1000 m from the coastline. Moreover, the impact of changing altitude on the corrosivity of the environment was confirmed, particularly along the coastal regions.