Evaluation of Atmospheric Corrosion in the City of Poza Rica Veracruz

The corrosive indexes were determined with Aluminum screwed wire probes over bolts of steel, cooper and plastic, also called CLIMAT (Classification of industrial and marine atmosphere) and accord with the technique reported by Bell Telephone Laboratories [1] and widely used by the company Aluminum Cable [2] for the study of galvanic unions of aluminum in the atmosphere conditions. Standard samples as carbon steel, galvanized steel, copper and aluminum were used to determine the categories corrosiveness type ISO in the city Poza Rica Veracruz. The Normative ISO 8565 was applied to the conditions of the exposure, and ISO 9223 for levels of corrosivity and calculating the corrosion rate of coupons after. This study was complemented with the application of electrochemical methods (EIS and CP), studies of morphology and surface analysis of corrosion products by scanning electron microscopy (SEM). The results indicate the existence of an industrial type atmosphere, influenced by the marine environment, from the Gulf of Mexico. According to the methodology CLIMAT was identified intermediate levels of atmospheric corrosion (C3) for carbon steel and (C4) for galvanized steel. However atmospheric corrosion was very high for copper (C5) and aluminum (C5). This can be attributed to the relative humidity above 80%, speed and wind direction, targeted attacks that produce aggressive agents such as SO2, chlorides, and suspended particles.