Influence of Seawater Salinity on Corrosion of Hull Structural Steel

Abstract

Abstract Hulls of ships are often made of steel, which are produced under the supervision of classification societies. Usually, the hull steel of ordinary strength category A is used for the ship's shell (the yield strength is 235 MPa and the impact strength 27 J at 20ºC). Vessels sail in sea areas with various levels of salinity and thus with different corrosiveness. The average salinity of the seas is taken as 3.5% content of sodium chloride. This article presents the results of corrosion tests of S235 JRG1 steel in an aqueous solution in which the mass fraction of sodium chloride was: 0.7%, 1.4%, 2.2%, 2.8%, 3.5% and 4.2%. Corrosion tests were performed using the potentiodynamic method. As parameters characterizing the corrosion properties of the tested steel, the corrosion current density and corrosion potential were assumed. Statistically significant influence of seawater salinity on the corrosion properties of hull structural steel of ordinary strength of category A was found. The highest value of the corrosion current density was observed in the solution containing 3.5% NaCl mass fraction was observed. In seawater with a sodium chloride content in the range of 0.7 to 3.5%, an increase in the value of the corrosion current density was observed, along with the increasing share of NaCl. In seawater with higher salinity, the corrosion rate was reduced. The corrosion potential of S235JRG1 steel decreases with the NaCl content in the corrosive solution. The susceptibility of this material to corrosion in seawater increased.