Corrosion behavior of marine structural steel in tidal zone based on wire beam electrode technology and partitioned cellular automata model

Abstract

The initial corrosion evolution of marine structural steel in tidal zone is studied using wire beam electrode (WBE). The electrochemical experiment results show that the WBE in the high and middle tidal zones are in the anodic dissolution state for less time than that in the low tidal and immersion zones. The fitting results of WBE experiment provide the boundary conditions for the partitioned cellular automata (PCA) model, which is adopted to simulate the initial corrosion evolutions of steel in the tidal zone. The proposed independent variable of the electrolyte concentration (ρ), corrosion probability (Pc), passivation probability (Pp), and movement direction probability (Pm) on the corrosion behavior of steel are studied. The calculated results demonstrate that ρ and Pm can well characterize the corrosion evolutions of the steel in ocean tidal zones. This model is effective in predicting the corrosion evolution of marine structural steel in tidal zone. It provides a new method for predicting the corrosion evolution of marine structural steel in tidal zone.