In-Situ Critical Pitting Temperature of Steels Using EC Noise

Abstract

This paper shows how Electrochemical Noise (EN) can be used to determine the Critical Pitting Temperature (CPT) of steels in chloride containing solutions. The work presented here shows, for the first time, simultaneous In-situ micro-visualization and electrochemical noise of steels in chloride containing environments. A real time video of the surface of the sample was recorded while electrochemical noise measurements were taken as the temperature was slowly increased to obtain the CPT. This methodology allowed the observation of metastable pitting, pit initiation and pit propagation in steels.