Page 28 - Corrosion Engineering Principles and Practice

12 C h a p t e r 1 T h e S t u d y o f C o r r o s i o n 13

Physics
Chemistry

Business
Electrical
engineering

Materials Civil
engineering engineering

Chemical
None engineering
FIGURE 1.1 Distribution of disciplines in which active corrosion engineers
have graduated.

As can be seen in Fig. 1.1, materials engineering was by far the
main academic discipline taken by corrosion engineers. However,
the wide spectrum of corrosion activities is also reflected in the
breadth of expertise required of these engineers when they embark
accidentally, coincidentally, or otherwise in a corrosion career.
Interesting comments and observations were also gathered during
the survey. The following are some of the comments collected during
the Internet survey:
I have found that corrosion is more the result of chemical and electrochemical
interactions with the service environment than necessarily with the materials
selected. The materials engineers I have worked with have an outstanding
understanding of the manufacture of alloys, but not necessarily a good
understanding of the effects of chemical attack and degradation on materials
post-manufacture.
Most metallurgical programs do not include electrochemistry, a must for a
corrosion engineer. Chemical Engineers with some metallurgy classes would
likely be the best equipped directly out of school.
A corrosion engineer needs a broad background. When dealing with coatings,
knowledge of chemistry is helpful. When dealing with cathodic protection,
knowledge of electrical engineering is helpful. Material selection and high
temperature corrosion is best left to metallurgists. Microbial influenced
corrosion is certainly a biological process. All corrosion engineers deal with
life cycle costs and risk. Corrosion is multidisciplinary so a corrosion engineer
needs to know materials, chemical engineering, mechanical engineering,
some chemistry, a bit of electricity and electronics and so, it is not easy to
become a corrosion engineer in full.
Understanding fundamental origins of corrosion, the electrochemical
basis for much of it as well as how and why standard tests are designed
is critical. Encyclopedic knowledge of facts available in databases is of
less importance.