Effect on marine immersion corrosion of carbon content of low alloy steels

Abstract

This paper attempts to reconcile information from a number of different sources about the effect of small changes in carbon content on the immersion corrosion of specimens of normal commercial mild and low alloy steels. It does so through interpreting the data reported in the literature in terms of the recently proposed theoretically based phenomenological model for marine immersion corrosion. This model postulates different corrosion phases as corrosion progresses. When the experimental results are interpreted in terms of the model it is found that carbon content has minimal effect on the kinetically controlled corrosion phase. The next phase, when corrosion rate is controlled by oxygen diffusion, is also unaffected, in agreement with theoretical predictions. However, carbon content does affect the two anaerobic phases, with increased corrosion as the carbon content and the water temperature increase. The model allows apparently conflicting observations to be reconciled and shows that carbon content may be influential for longer-term corrosion and for corrosion in tropical waters.