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Re: Metal Compatibility
Corrosion is a big problem all over. Steel are useful materials, but they get over specified. I suppose familiarity is part of the problem, but the reason people aren't familiar with other materials, is that these other materials are never specified.
A good example I see every day, is a metal box in a ditch, something to do with underground pipe or cabling. The paint either wasn't applied perfectly (likely) or the paint got chipped. In any event, some of the underlying steel is exposed, and since ordinary steel will not form a dense adherent oxide (rust), the paint blister and falls off, exposing even more steel, and pretty soon it is just another rusty piece of junk in the ditch. Aluminum or fibreglass would probably both work better, and look nicer for a longer time.
Corrosion is a big problem all over. Steel are useful materials, but they get over specified. I suppose familiarity is part of the problem, but the reason people aren't familiar with other materials, is that these other materials are never specified.
A good example I see every day, is a metal box in a ditch, something to do with underground pipe or cabling. The paint either wasn't applied perfectly (likely) or the paint got chipped. In any event, some of the underlying steel is exposed, and since ordinary steel will not form a dense adherent oxide (rust), the paint blister and falls off, exposing even more steel, and pretty soon it is just another rusty piece of junk in the ditch. Aluminum or fibreglass would probably both work better, and look nicer for a longer time.
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