Corrosion evaluation of a newly developed high-strength steel in marine environments

Abstract

This study aims to evaluate the corrosion behavior of a newly developed high-strength steel in marine environments. Metals used in seawater are easily deteriorated because of the presence of corrosive species such as chloride ions in it. Seawater causes much higher corrosion than fresh water. Thus, the corrosion of steel in marine environment has been recognized as a crucial problem in designing structures which cannot be cathodically protected. In this study, the corrosion resistance of a newly developed high-strength steel was evaluated. Four different specimens were tested to confirm the corrosion resistance. The exposure corrosion test was carried out by exposing the specimens to different marine environments such as atmospheric, tidal, splash, and submerged zones for two years. The specimens taken out from each location were cleaned ultrasonically and chemically prior to the evaluation of their corrosion resistance by the weight loss method. Finally, the pitting depth of the specimens was also measured to evaluate their pitting corrosion. The conditions used for the corrosion test were similar to the environmental conditions. The corrosion test results revealed that the corrosion rate and pitting corrosion of the newly developed high-strength steel was lower than that of the other carbon steels.