Construcción de mapas de corrosión atmosférica de Chile. Resultados preliminares

This work show the first part of a research project towards the development of a corrosion map for Chile. In order to develop this map, the research group considered carbon steel, galvanized carbon steel, copper and aluminum as testing materials. All these materials were exposed to the atmosphere in 31 places along the country. In each one of these corrosion testing sites, the metallic samples were mounted on frameworks. Each framework station had chloride and sulfur dioxide meters as well as a weather station, to measure temperature, environmental humidity, rainfall, wind speed and solar radiation. After six months of exposition, the results show the existence of a correlation between the rate of corrosion, the environmental and meteorological conditions of the area and the mechanical properties of the materials. This information constitutes an important tool of innovation for the industries in Chile, because the obtained information will be helpful to design metallic infrastructure with a longer useful live.