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The lubrication process may become interrelated with corrosion phenomena. Lubricants may be the products of a corrosion process, e.g., during boundary lubrication. They may also serve as a medium which protects the metal during the lubrication process from the corrosive attack of a humid and acidic atmosphere. For better understanding of the relation between lubrication and corrosion phenomena, the theory of corrosion is presented.

Last month we published abstracts and summaries of some of the papers presented at the Congress, which was held at the Imperial College of Science and Technology from April 10–15 under the auspices of the International Union of Pure and Applied Chemistry. In this issue we publish further abstracts and summaries together with illustrations of many of the corrosionists attending and photographs of some of the many visits which were arranged to works and laboratories. The Congress attracted over 800 delegates.

‘Cebelcor’ (Centre Beige d'Etude de la Corrosion) is a non‐profit‐making association founded for the purpose of fighting corrosion by scientific, technical and educational means. It pursues this objective in collaboration with similar bodies in Belgium and abroad. A description of the organisation and workings of this corrosion research centre is given in this article, the sixth in our series describing corrosion research laboratories.

It is well known that the water‐line along a semi‐immersed sheet of metal enhances corrosion by providing easy access for atmospheric oxygen. Thirty years ago U. R. Evans coupled iron, submerged in water or brine, with partly‐emerging strips of several metals, and found that copper promoted the rusting more than nickel, and nickel more than lead. This type of corrosion is very frequent and deserves more quantitative consideration, since it is as yet little understood. Thus a recent study of the geometrical conditions leading to corrosion, as aided by a water‐line, revealed that what is commonly regarded as the effect of the meniscus also depends on a zone of dry metal above it. The present investigation re‐examines the role of the partly‐immersed metal in conjunction with the electrolyte surrounding it.

Although under many conditions a carefully made weld should introduce no special corrosion risk, the fact remains that welding raises special corrosion problems. The reasons are discussed by Dr. Evans in the first part of his article. He then considers in particular the corrosion of welded stainless steel and aluminium alloys, corrosion fatigue, and hydrogen blistering and cracking.

In addition to the metallurgists and engineers, who have to deal with it professionally, almost everyone is familiar with rust, and its appearance no doubt evokes varied responses from different members of the community. The response of some of the makers and users of iron and steel 30 years ago was to find ways of preventing corrosion, which even then was costing vast sums of money in maintenance and replacement of structures. It was with this object in view that the Iron and Steel Institute, together with the National Federation of Iron and Steel Manufacturers, set up a Corrosion Committee in 1928, under the chairmanship of the late Dr. W. H. Hatfield, F.R.S., to study ways of reducing the corrosion of iron and steel to a minimum, either by improving the resistance of the materials themselves or by adopting methods of protection. The Committee decided on a broad scheme of investigation, which included the conduct of both fundamental and applied research. The fundamental researches continued at Cambridge for a period of more than 25 years until the recent retirement of Dr. U. R. Evans, F.R.S., and have resulted in important contributions to our knowledge of corrosion processes.

The Presidential Address to the Liverpool Engineering Society by Mr. Farthing (the salient points of which are reproduced in this issue) has particular bearing upon lubrication and especially on young lubrication engineers. Mr. Farthing stressed the very wide field open to young engineers and the difficulties associated with training in order to cover as wide a field as may be necessary. It is usually so important to gain a wide knowledge before one can specialise and this is certainly the case with lubrication engineers. One cannot begin to fully appreciate the intricacies of a lubrication system with all its accessory components lubricating and guarding, for example, a large motive power plant or rolling mill, until one has more than a mere working knowledge of the plant itself, the duties it must perform, how it performs them and the snags that arise which might be overcome by correct lubrication. In view of the fact that lubrication systems are just as important in a textile mill as in a power station or a large brick works, the almost impossible‐to‐achieve‐range of knowledge that would simplify the work of a lubrication engineer is very obvious. Fortunately, lubricating principles apply to most cases and knowing how to apply one's knowledge from basic principles is the key to success in this difficult profession.

Over two years ago the first issue of CORROSION TECHNOLOGY appeared. In the 25 issues that have followed we have published over 90 major signed articles, 250 commentary items, 250 abstracts of corrosion literature and hundreds of other items and features, all dealing directly or indirectly with problems of corrosion. During its comparatively short life, CORROSION TECHNOLOGY has grown up and made many contacts throughout the world. To mark the achievement of our first 24 months' publication we invited some of our friends from the worlds of science and industry to set down a few of their thoughts on corrosion matters for publication in this issue, and we are privileged to be able to print the following contributions.

The corrosion of metals can be reduced or prevented by influencing the electrode processes of electrochemical corrosion cells with suitable chemical additions to the corrosive electrolyte. It is the purpose of these articles to consider the mechanism of inhibition, and the applications and limitations of typical inhibitors. This first article is devoted to a consideration of the principles of inhibition in aqueous neutral solutions.

Passivity and localized corrosion is discussed using iron, iron‐chromium, iron‐chromium‐nickel alloys and aluminium as examples. A brief description is given of the prevailing ideas regarding the nature of the passive film and the processes by which its protective properties are lost when breakdown of passivity and localized corrosion occurs.