The use of Damage Mechanisms (DM’s) has been successfully developed and applied in the Oil Refining
industry for over 20 years. A damage mechanism is a specific combination of mechanical, chemical,
physical, or other processes that result in equipment degradation (piping or equipment) during operation
(active or shut down). These have been defined for Oil Refining (API RP 5711). API RP 571 is
supplemented with some similar and some specific individual damage mechanism, by technical reports, recommended practices, publications, and bulletins from API, as well as from the National Association of
Corrosion Engineers (NACE - now known as the Association for Materials Protection and Performance
or AMPP), and the Welding Research Council (WRC).