Hard- Surfacing, Building Fusion Welding Carbon Welding Non-Ferrous Metals Heating & Heat Treating Braze Welding Welding Cast Iron Welding Ferrous Metals Brazing & Soldering Equipment Set-Up Operation Equipment For OXY-Acet Structure of Steel Mechanical Properties of Metals Oxygen & Acetylene OXY-Acet Flame Physical Properties of Metals How Steels Are Classified Expansion & Contraction Prep For Welding OXY-Acet Welding & Cutting Safety Practices Manual Cutting Oxygen Cutting By Machine Appendices Testing & Inspecting
4 Corrosion Resistance. To some extent, the ability of a given metal to resist corrosion is a chemical rather than a physical property, since it is at least partially determined by purely chemical factors. However, we can properly mention it here because the corrosion resistance of an alloy is often determined as much by the physical crystalline structure of the alloy as by the chemical nature of its components. For example, stainless steel composed of about 74% iron, 18% chromium, and 8% nickel is virtually immune to attack by some liquids which would rapidly eat away low-carbon steel (99% iron). Why this is true is beyond the scope of this book. Let’s be thankful, however, that it is and that for many purposes we can use an alloy which is largely iron and get almost the same corrosion resistance we could expect from more expensive pure nickel.