The Role of the Corrosion Product in the Atmospheric Corrosion of Iron

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Abstract
The role of the corrosion product is considered from the point of view of the primary (invisible) oxide film and the secondary rust. Formation of a continuous Oxide film having protective properties is favored by screening the specimens from suspended particles in the atmosphere, which themselves give rise to a characteristic rusting, although the relative humidity may be considerably below the dew‐point. A fundamental change in the rate of rusting (from a retardation to an acceleration) takes place at a critical humidity in the neighborhood of 65 per cent saturation ; this change is linked up with hygroscopicity of the rust. Additions to the iron of alloying elements may, it is suggested, act either by stabilizing the primary film or by reducing the hygroscopicity of the secondary rust.

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