TABLE OF CONTENTS Overview
In Part 1 Mechanisms of materials degradation, the characteristics of the economically significant forms of damage to materials is discussed in terms of the physical and chemical processes involved. There is a wide range of materials degradation mechanisms but all can be classified into four basic categories; (i) by direct mechanical action, (ii) by heat or radiation, (iii) by the presence of chemical reagents and (iv) where two or more of (i), (ii) and (iii) combine synergistically. The economically significant forms of materials degradation are discussed sequentially in the following chapters according to this classification.
