Aging of physical systems is a part of the hierarchy of systems that involve materials, organisms, and organizations. Biologists have found that different organisms age differently, but there are fundamental mechanisms contributing to aging. Historians have found that different nations, civilizations, and societies age differently, but there are some dynamic patterns and fundamental mechanisms leading to their aging. Materials are important to human societies, hence the naming of human epochs as the Stone Age, Bronze Age, Iron Age, Silicon Age, etc. However, modern society has to learn to live with materials that are aging. This is because completely replacing materials in our infrastructure is expensive. Replacing a mile of pipeline carrying oil and gas can cost as much as $1 million. In some cases, such as nuclear waste storage tanks and nuclear pressure vessels, replacement is difficult as it requires decommissioning existing vessels—a time-consuming and expensive undertaking. The attached perspective, published in the Corrosion journal, outlines the challenges and opportunities with respect to aging materials. I continue to work on addressing aging materials issues.
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