Deterioration of Structures and Materials in Desertic/Arid Regions

Desertic and arid lands, located all over the world, cover 40% of the earth surface; e.g. Africa: Sahara; Asia: Gobi, Negev, Arabic Peninsula; South America: Patagonia, Atacama; North America: the “Great American Desert” including the Mojave, Sonora, Colorado  deserts , in the northwest of Mexico and the southwest of USA. Many deserts include salty water bodies: Salton Sea, CA; the Great Salt Lake, Utah; the Dead Sea and Red Sea, Israel. Water facilities, power stations, bridges and roads, oil and gas pipelines, desalination plants, operate in these arid zones. The complex interaction of climatic factors such as hot afternoons and cold nights, scarce rains, intense solar radiation, dew condensation, salty atmosphere ; saline, brackish and briny waters create a peculiar corrosive environment. The desert structures and equipment are built from two main engineering materials: carbon steel and reinforced concrete. Light and heavy wheeled vehicles, tanks, helicopters, mobile weapon systems participate in military operations in vast desert areas. They are affected by corrosion, abrasion , erosion  and wear that impair vehicle mobility. On the other hand, plastics, elastomers and composites deteriorate in these harsh environments by physicochemical mechanisms. Case histories from water and energy facilities, mineral, chemical and petrochemical industries; hydraulic infrastructure, geothermal plants in desertic regions of Mexico, USA, Saudi Arabia and Israel, based on the authors experience and knowledge, are described and their implications discussed.