Abstract
A simple and rapid electrochemical method for the evaluation of crevice corrosion in duplex stainless steels (DSS) is described. Three types of DSS—namely, UNS S32101, UNS S31803, and UNS S32750—were tested in 1 mol/L sodium chloride (NaCl) solutions. Results showed good reproducibility with a typical standard deviation of below 3°C. The critical pitting temperature (CPT) for the same specimens was also investigated in 1 mol/L NaCl solutions. An approximately 20°C decrease from CPT to critical crevice temperature (CCT) was observed and subsequently explained. Then, the morphologies of crevice corrosion were studied using scanning electron microscopy with energy-dispersive x-ray spectroscopy (SEM/EDS) method. The SEM/EDS study revealed that the ferrite phase was the site where preferential dissolution took place at the initiation step of crevice corrosion, which was in accordance with the prediction by calculating the critical crevice index. Moreover, repassivation was detected with the development of crevice corrosion. The reason was clarified by combining the results obtained with a successful diffusion model, and eventually the crevice corrosion progress was illustrated schematically.
Crevice corrosion of solution annealed 25Cr duplex stainless steels: Effect of W on critical temperatures
