Mapping of the cost of atmospheric corrosion of zinc and galvanised steel due to the effect of atmospheric pollution in the Mexico City Metropolitan area

The deterioration of materials due to the effect of atmospheric pollution generates a cost to society because the maintenance and replacement of degraded materials. Galvanised steel is used in electrical industry to build electrical transmission towers (ETT). The objective of the study was to estimate the annual maintenance cost of galvanised steel used in the construction of ETT. The maintenance cost for galvanised steel was estimated considering the cost of the material surface area and the difference between the maintenance interval of clean and contaminated areas. Maps of intervals and maintenance costs were obtained for galvanised steel (85 and 100 mu m), which are the thicknesses regulated in Mexico for ETT. In addition, an ArcGis geographic information system was used for a spatial representation of data from the anthropogenic environment. The mapping of areas at risk of corrosion shows that in the northwest zone, ETT presents the highest maintenance costs for the year 2019. For galvanised steel thicknesses of 85 and 100 mu m, there are annual costs of, respectively, 8.68 and 10.16 USD/m(2).