Chile. Researchers from the Pontifical Catholic University of Valparaiso (PUCV) will evaluate the behavior of metals under different environmental and atmospheric conditions throughout Chile.30 infrastructures will be distributed in the country in order to make a corrosion map; these structures are already found in Ventanas, Valparaíso, Easter Island, Los Andes, Antofagasta and San Pedro de Atacama.
The elaboration of this guide or map will allow advising the construction industry to select the most resistant and stable materials over time for buildings in Chile.
Each research niche consists of four frames that have 48 plates of steel, copper, galvanized zinc and aluminum, as well as two devices that measure the amount of sulfur dioxide and chloride present in the environment, which causes corrosion of metals.
Mónica Puentes, from the Corrosion Laboratory of the Institute of Chemistry of the PUCV, explained that during the research four samples of each type will be taken for twelve periods, each of three months. These samples will be studied their appearance, weight, corrosion rate and morphology of the attack to determine the behavior of the metals in the different environments, the degree of corrosivity of each area of the country and the most resentful materials in these places.
