Active Corrosion of Museum Metal Objects and Its Diagnosing

Abstract

The term "active corrosion" is widely used to characterize the condition of archaeological metal objects, but there is still no clear definition of this concept either in Russian or foreign special literature. The authors of the paper offer their definition of active corrosion of museum metal objects, describe the causes for its occur­rence and the necessary conditions for its development. The paper discusses the concept of active corrosion of museum objects made of iron, copper alloys and lead, describes its diagnostic properties and suggests various methods for its detection and testing. An emphasis is made on active corrosion of archaeological objects.

Keywords

• archaeological metal
• museum object
• metal restoration
• metal corrosion
• active corrosion
• active corrosion testing