The monitoring of pitting corrosion in stainless steel in the simulated corrosive conditions of marine applications

Abstract

This paper describes the monitoring of pitting corrosion in ferritic and austenitic stainless steel under the simulated acidic conditions of marine applications. The monitoring dealt with corrosion weight loss and metallurgical investigation. The results indicated that stainless steel with passive film shows good corrosion resistance to the simulated corrosive environment for all test periods. In contrast, stainless steel without passive film cannot provide an inhibiting effect for the whole test period. After 24 h. of testing, both of the stainless steels were locally attacked. Pitting corrosion was observed on the surface of both stainless steels. In small pits, self-accelerating corrosion can occur. Therefore, longer immersion times were attributed to the higher corrosion rates of both stainless steel in simulated acidic conditions.