Corrosion resistance

Polymer composites can be designed for excellent corrosion (somewhat of a misnomer) resistance to specific hostile environments. Much emphasis must be placed upon the selection of a suitable resin system when designing against a hostile chemical environment. However, attention to the details of design is needed to ensure that optimum performance is achieved. Good corrosion resistance is not just achieved by selecting an optimum resin. The whole manufacturing process, installation and service life, needs to be optimised.

Once the details of fluid environment have been established the appropriate resin must be selected. Manufacturer guides for corrosion resistant resins are available and should be consulted. Within each family of resins, there are particular grades that will fare better against specific threats. Where no data are available an environmental exposure test matrix should be included at the early stages of the design process. Methods for accelerated testing, generally by increasing the exposure temperature, are available and these can be used to reduce testing times but care must be taken to ensure that degradation mechanisms from an accelerated test are the same as those in real time.