Sensors in advancing the capabilities of corrosion detection: A review

Abstract

Corrosion can cause serious damage, which leads to large economic loss, sometimes combined with environmental pollution, or risk of personnel injuries. Today, corrosion has a far-reaching impact on society and the associated degradation of materials, owing to the increased complexity and diversity of materials systems, which comprise not only metallic materials but also ceramics, polymers, and composites, all of which are vulnerable to environmental extremes. Early detection, proper diagnosis, and efficient prevention measures are the most essential parts in preventing or limiting the scope of such damages. Corrosion detection (inspection and monitoring) provides assistance and knowledge to identify the problem, examine the performance of the material, alternate materials evaluation, and development of strategies for materials protection towards a specific environment. Significantly, these sensor detection techniques are useful to determine the average rate of corrosion or type of attack, or both, that arise during the exposure. The data obtained from these sensors can allow providing an early warning, resulting in corrosion-induced failure and producing controlling statistics concerning maintenance necessities and ongoing conditions of the system that gets detected. In this review, sensors implementing both physical and electrochemical techniques with respect to the recent developments in the field and laboratory are discussed towards sensitivity and selectivity along with their advantages and disadvantages. In addition, various standard methods developed for inspecting and monitoring the corrosion directly or indirectly are also described in detail.