Review-material degradation assessed by digital image processing: Fundamentals, progresses, and challenges

Abstract Material degradation is accompanied by the changes in surface structure, morphology, and composition. These changes can be recorded by a variety of image acquisition devices that export digital images in grayscale or true color to a detector. Information regarding corrosion type and extent can be extracted with image processing methods. This paper provides a comprehensive review of material degradation assessed by digital image processing. Digital image processing systems used to assess material degradation are briefly reviewed, and the algorithms developed to process metallic materials degradation images are described. Physical and electrochemical methods that can be used to support digital image processing results are summarized, and future work that will augment the present methods of evaluating material degradation are discussed.