The Battelle-NBS Study

Corrosion is very costly and has a major impact on the economies of industrial nations. The Battelle-NBS study (1) pointed out the severe impact of corrosion on the US economy. The estimates based on the Battelle-NBS study report that the annual cost of corrosion in the United States alone was approximately 70 billion, which was between 4% and 5% of the gross national product (GNP). A limited study in 1995 (2) updating the 1975 cost estimates, estimated the total cost of corrosion at approximately 300 billion. This staggering total corrosion loss resulted from equipment and structure replacement, loss of product, maintenance and repair, the need for excess capacity and redundant equipment, corrosion control, designated technical support, design, insurance, and parts and equipment inventories. Other national studies such as in the United Kingdom (3), Japan (4), Australia, and (5) Kuwait (6) investigated their respective corrosion costs. All these studies emphasized 

Challenges in Corrosion Costs, Causes, Consequences, and Control, First Edition. V. S. Sastri. 2015 John Wiley Sons, Inc. Published 2015 by John Wiley Sons, Inc. 

The efforts of the aforementioned studies ranged from formal and extensive to informal and modest. It is estimated that the annual cost of corrosion ranges from 1 % to 5% of each country s GNR 

Uhlig s study (7) attempted to measure the costs of corroding structures to both the owner/operator (direct cost) and to others (indirect costs). The total cost of corrosion to owner/operators was estimated by summing the cost estimates for corrosion prevention products and services used in the entire US economy such as coatings, inhibitors, corrosion-resistant metals, and cathodic protection and multiplied these totals by their respective prices. Domestic water heater replacement, automobile internal combustion engine repairs, and replacement of automobile mufflers were selected as examples to estimate the cost to private consumers/users. Adding both the direct and indirect costs, the annual cost of corrosion to the United States was estimated to be 5.5 billion or 2.1% of the 1949 GNR This method was used in Japan and estimated the cost of corrosion at 9.2 billion equivalent to 1-2% of the Japanese GNR. 

The Hoar study (United Kingdom, 1970 (3)) identifled the sources for the cost of corrosion by sectors of the economy. The study estimated the annual total corrosion cost in the United Kingdom to be approximately 3.5% of their GNR 

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The Battelle-NBS study consists of a combination of the expertise of corrosion and economics experts to determine the economic impact of corrosion on the U.S. economy. A version of the Battelle National Input/Output Model was used to estimate the total corrosion cost. This model quantitatively identified corrosion-related changes in resources such as materials, labor and energy, changes in capital equipment and facilities, and changes in the replacement lives of capital equipment for all the sectors of the economy. The input/output model accounts for both the direct effects of corrosion on individual sectors and the interactions among various sectors. 

Method to Estimate Corrosion Costs The Battelle-NBS study (4-6) used an input/output methodology to estimate the cost of corrosion for the U.S. economy. 

The Battelle-NBS study collected data on corrosion-related changes in the following ... 

Sector Costs on the Basis of the Input-Output Model The Battelle-NBS study used the lO model to estimate the cost of corrosion to sectors. In addition to the 10 model, the report focused on four areas federal government, personally owned automobiles, the electric power industry and loss of energy and materials. 

The impact of corrosion is that one has to spend more money in the world with corrosion than in the world without corrosion. This difference is the cost of corrosion. In the Battelle-NBS study, the cost of corrosion was determined as a percentage of sales and on a dollar basis. The highest total costs of corrosion were attributed to mining, manufacturing, public utilities, and construction. The highest corrosion costs were in wholesale and retail trade, auto manufacture, livestock, and petroleum refining. 

The Battelle-NBS study (1) used an economic input/output analysis to estimate the cost of corrosion in the United States. In the model, the US economy was divided into 130 industrial sectors. For each sector, estimates were made on the costs of corrosion prevention, as well as the cost of repair and replacement because of corrosion. The following direct costs were included in the study replacement of equipment or buildings loss of product maintenance and repair excess capacity redundant equipment corrosion control such as inhibitors organic and metallic coatings engineering research and development testing design insurance parts and equipment inventory. 

The final results of the Battelle-NBS study for the base year of 1975 were ... 

The Battelle-NBS study found two sources of potential sources of savings in terms of corrosion. Approximately 10 billion was estimated to be avoidable by using more cost-effective currently available technology. 

The Battelle-NBS study provided a reference to the following factors ... 

The Australian study was patterned after the Battelle-NBS study. An lO model of the Australian national economy was constmcted to first represent the real world and secondly to represent the world of optimum corrosion mitigation technology. Differences between the two scenarios were used as estimates of avoidable costs of corrosion and to indicate areas of potential savings. 

The final results of the NBS-Battelle studies, after adjustments by NBS to the Battelle report for the base year of 1975, were the total U.S. cost of metallic corrosion was estimated to be 70 billion, which amounts to 4.2% of GNP in 1975, of which 10 billion (15%) was estimated to be avoidable using the available corrosion prevention technology. 

The method to estimate corrosion costs was patterned after Battelle-NBS lO method. Data gathered and information required for the model s adjustments came from three sources (i) data compiled from a survey specifically designed for industries in Kuwait (ii) judgment of experts in corrosion in Kuwait (iii) experience of other countries and previous studies. 

Metallic corrosion, although seemingly innocuous, indeed affects many sectors of a nation s economy. The National Bureau of Standards (NBS) in collaboration with Battelle Columbus Laboratory (BCL) studied the costs of corrosion in USA using the input/output model.7 Some elements of the costs of corrosion used in the model are... 

A number of studies in various nations have determined the cots of these degradative process (1-17). Perhaps the most complete are those carried out for corrosion and fracture by the U.S. National Bureau of Standards (NBS) in collaboration with Battelle Columbus Laboratories (BCL). In addition to these referenced works there are a large number of studies, particularly in corrosion, of the costs in limited, more specialized circumstances. 

In response to a congressional directive, the National Bureau of Standards (NBS, now the National Institute of Standards and Technology (NIST)) studied the cost of corrosion in the United States. The analysis required in the study was contracted to Battelle Columbus Laboratories (BCL). The results of this work were published as NBS reports (4-6). 

Samples were cut from 3-mm-thick sheets of the following 15-ply uniaxial fiber-reinforced composites 0.14-mm boron/6061 aluminum S-901 glass/NASA Resin 2 type AS graphite/NASA Resin 2 and 0.14-mm boron/5505 epoxy. The mechanical properties of these materials, which had been selected by the National Bureau of Standards, Boulder, Colorado, as candidates for low-temperature structural applications, have been discussed in detail by Schramm and Kasen [ ]. NBS supplied the samples for the thermal expansion measurement [" ] and calorimetric studies conducted at Battelle. 

The intrinsic dielectric losses of pure polyethylene and polypropylene are very small at 4.2 K (i.e., 5 x 10 ) The higher values of tan 6 measured for commercially produced polyolefins are due to the presence of additives placed in the polymer during the manufacturing process to protect the polymer in its intended air environment. Early work by King and Thomas disclosed that the antioxidant may be one of the major sources of dielectric loss at temperatures of 6 to 8 K. A subsequent study of the effects of antioxidant on tan 6, carried out jointly by Battelle Columbus Laboratories (BCL), the National Bureau of Standards (NBS), and BNL, also showed that the 60 Hz loss tangent of polyethylene, in the region of 4 to 10 K, was strongly dependent upon both type and... 

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