| HN Mirror

Not well, I don't even play a materials scientist on TV. But you have stuff like the differing electronegativities of dissimilar metals and consequent charge migration eventually producing macroscopic electrolysis effects in the chronic presence of an electrolyte, such as moist air or water mixed with road salt, which is why every Jeep Cherokee outside Nevada eventually drops its aluminum heat pan on the road, after it rots out around the steel fasteners fixing it to the frame. You also have things like destructive amalgam formation with mercury, which actually would make a good option for quick destruction in some kind of movie plot scenario, I suppose, and is why you should not try to bring anything containing mercury metal aboard an aircraft. There are also various organic chemicals better than normal air or water at attacking the metal despite its self-passivating habit, and thus will either directly corrode it or make it vulnerable to erosion through repeated formation and removal of the normal oxide layer. I want to say this is what makes atmospheric sulfates dangerous to aluminum before "acid rain" proper, but don't quote me on that. There are probably others, that's just what comes to mind off the top of my head. I believe the US National Park Service has done significant conservation research to maintain the Washington Monument's flashy topper, so that would probably be my next stop, and of course civil aviation also takes a strong and persistent interest in the material's failure modes.