Neville Sachs, P.E., is a Stevens Institute of Technology graduate and renowned expert in mechanical failure analysis. He has authored three books, contributed to four others, published over 60 technical papers, and taught industrial failure analysis across North America and Europe since 1987. He is active in ASME, STLE, NSPE, and AMPP.
Sometimes corrosion is attractive. For example, the vivid colors on titanium jewelry are oxides, with the color difference the result of the oxide thickness and the refracted light. Also, from an artistically oriented viewpoint, the golden-brown appearance of many of the new high-voltage towers made from ASTM A 242 (Corten) steel is more appealing than their bright galvanized cousins, and that “pleasing brown color” is a tightly bonded coating of rust. But most of the time, and in several ways, corrosion presents difficulties that can greatly shorten the life of mechanical equipment.