Pitting corrosion continued stainless steels

One must be careful about the corrosion allowance for pitting corrosion of stainless steel - there should not be one. This is because pitting corrosion is not a continuing phenomenon. When pitting corrosion happens, it happens over a short time which is not the situation envisioned by Equation 2.3. 

Corrosion inhibitors for steels are being continuously developed because of the ubiquitous use of steel in construction and its somewhat limited corrosion resistance, especially in the presence of water. A great number of papers are on the effect of corrosion inhibitors, and the overwhelming majority deals with the effect of inhibitors on uniform corrosion. Due to environmental restrictions on common inorganic inhibitors (Freedman, 1986), several studies suggest derivatives of some amino acids as corrosion inhibitors. A survey of a number of different organic compounds commonly used as uniform corrosion inhibitors showed that most compounds hardly affect the pitting corrosion of stainless steel however, one of... 

For materials like stainless steels, the mechanisms are quite different. Corrosion resistance in stainless steels is provided by a passive film that acts as a barrier between the alloy and the water. The passive film is a continuous, non-porous and insoluble film, which, if broken under normal conditions, is self-healing. Due to these characteristics, the uniform corrosion of stainless steels is usually very low and the major risk is pitting corrosion. The pitting corrosion risk of stainless steels is influenced not only ly the composition of the alloy and by water quality but also by service conditions, quality of the material and quality of the installation (fitting, soldering conditions, etc.). 

New alloys with improved corrosion-resistance characteristics are continually being marketed, and are aimed at solving a particular problem, e.g. improved stress-corrosion cracking resistance in the case of stainless steels improved pitting resistance or less susceptibility to welding difficulties. 

Figure 7 Aspects of the nucleation of SCC by localized corrosion, (a) Peak aged Al-Li-Cu-Mg alloy 8090 after unstressed preexposure in aerated 3.5% NaCl for 7 days, (b) SCC initiated from one of the fissures shown in (a), following removal of the solution and continued exposure to laboratory air under a short transverse tensile stress (courtesy of J. G Craig, unpublished data), (c) Creviced region of 316L stainless steel after a slow strain rate test in 0.6M NaCl + 0.03M Na2S203 at 80°C and an applied anodic current of 25 xA, showing unstable pitting leading to crevice corrosion and SCC initiation (courtesy of M. I. Suleiman).

For copper alloys, increase in temperature accelerates film formation. While it takes about 1 day to form a protective film at 15°C, it may take a week or more at 2°C. It is important to continue initial circulation of clean seawater long enough for initial film formation for all copper alloys. For stainless steels and other alloys that are prone to pitting and crevice corrosion, an increase in temperature tends to facilitate initiation of these types of attack. However, data on propagation rate suggest... 

TABLE 8.35 Influence of Different Alloying Additions and Microstructure on the Pitting and Crevice Corrosion Resistance of Duplex Stainless Steels (Continued)... 

When the precipitation is relatively continuous, the depletion renders the stainless steel susceptible to intergranular corrosion, which is the dissolution of the low-chromium layer or envelope surrounding each grain. Sensitization also lowers resistance to other forms of corrosion, such as pitting, crevice corrosion, and SCC. 

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