Simulation of Outdoor Atmospheric Corrosion of Carbon Steel in Wet Tropics from Three-Month and One-Year Tests

Abstract

Mathematical models of the kinetics of outdoor atmospheric corrosion of metals were approved for a plain CT3 carbon steel in the wet tropics of Vietnam and periods from 0.5 to 10 years by the results of 3-month and one-year outdoor atmospheric tests. The least deviation of the predicted from actually observed corrosion rate were observed for the time periods ranging from 1.5 to 2 years (the minimum error Δ = 0.05%; the maximum Δ = 12.7%). The average error of the predicted estimates, for all the models employed, falls into a range from 10.9 to 41.4% for 3–5 years. However, for 10 years, it ranges either from 39.9 to 62.5% or from 4.8 to 38.9% depending on whether the results of 3-month or one-year outdoor tests were used, respectively. Past century data on the corrosion resistance of a CT3 steel were also used as the initial, whereas the calculated corrosion rates were compared to the most recent results of testing the steel in the rural atmosphere of North Vietnam (suburban district of Hanoi). The maximum prediction error (Δ = 23–139%) corresponds to calculations based on the tests for three winter months; the minimum (Δ = 8–54%), to those for three months in summer.