Since corrosion involves chemical change, the student must be familiar with principles of chemistry in order to understand corrosion reactions. Because corrosion processes are mostly electrochemical, an understanding of electrochemistry is also important. Furthermore, since structure and composition of a metal often determine corrosion behavior, the student should be familiar with the fundamentals of physical metallurgy as well.
The corrosion scientist studies corrosion mechanisms to improve (a) the understanding of the causes of corrosion and (b) the ways to prevent or at least minimize damage caused by corrosion. The corrosion engineer , on the other hand, applies scientific knowledge to control corrosion. For example, the corrosion engineer uses cathodic protection on a large scale to prevent corrosion of buried pipelines, tests and develops new and better paints, prescribes proper dosage of corrosion inhibitors, or recommends the correct coating. The corrosion scientist, in turn, develops better criteria of cathodic protection, outlines the molecular structure of chemical compounds that behave best as inhibitors, synthesizes corrosion - resistant alloys, and recommends heat treatment and compositional variations of alloys that will improve their performance. Both the scientific and engineering viewpoints supplement each other in the diagnosis of corrosion damage and in the prescription of remedies.
(Reference: "Corrosion and Corrosion Control", Revie and Uhlig, 2008)
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