Steel short-time oxidation

Geon and Seo [47] also determined the effect of vulcanization time on the adhesion of natural rubber to brass-plated steel. For relatively short times, there was a peak at the end of the copper profile that corresponded well with a peak in the sulfur profile. Similarly, peaks in the zinc and oxygen profiles corresponded well. These results showed that copper sulfide and zinc oxide mostly formed at short times but some evidence for formation of zinc sulfide was also obtained. For long times, the peak in the sulfur profile no longer corresponded with that in the copper profile. Instead, the peak in the sulfur profile corresponded to the peak in the zinc profile. It was concluded that the formation of zinc sulfide increased substantially at long times. An increase in vulcanization time correlated well with a decrease in the force required to pull brass-plated steel wires out of rubber blocks. 

Whereas the production of iron is basically a reduction process (converting iron oxides to metallic iron), the conversion of iron to steel is essentially an oxidation process in which the unwanted impurities are removed from the iron by reaction with oxygen gas. One of several methods used in steehnaking is the basic oxygen process. Because of its ease of operation and the relatively short time (about 20 minutes) required for each large-scale (hundreds of tons) conversion, the basic oxygen process is by far the most common means of producing steel today. 

Table 7.8 Oxidation resistance of a number of steels as shown by a short time, cyclic test...

A thin, tightly adhering oxide skin (only a few molecules thick) that forms when steel is tempered at a low temperature, or for a short time, in air or a mildly oxidizing atmosphere. The color, which ranges from straw to blue depending on the thickness of the oxide skin, varies with both tempering time and temperature. 

Thin parts and sheet materials may be prepared using methods for stainless steel. The major problem is in preventing oxidation of the surfaces. Oxidation can occur in a very short time, even before the parts are dry. Parts must be bonded immediately. The adhesive or adhesive primer must be applied immediately after drying. 

One common condition used in the experiments discribed above to examine the short-term oxidation of steel was to heat the steel sample in a protective atmosphere and hold it at the target temperature for a short time before the commencement of each oxidation experiment. In this way, steel oxidation during heating was suppressed. Such a simulation process would be much closer to the oxidation of a steel surface after hydraulic descaling. 

A relationship was also established between the oxide-reduction time and time of exposure, and the results for a mild steel and a lCu-3Ni weathering steel were similar to those obtained by mass loss. The authors give various expressions that relate oxide-reduction time (min) with corrosion rate (mm/y), and claim that a short exposure to a laboratory SO2 atmosphere followed by determining the E vs. time and oxide-reduction time provides a rapid method of evaluating weathering steels. 

---