The Initial Corrosion Behavior of Carbon Steel Exposed to the Coastal-Industrial Atmosphere in Hongyanhe
SONG Xuexin1,2, HUANG Songpeng1,2, WANG Chuan1, WANG Zhenyao1()
1 Institute of Metal Research, Chinese Academy of Sciences, Shenyang 110016, China 2 School of Materials Science and Engineering, University of Science and Technology of China, Shenyang 110016, China
Cite this article:
SONG Xuexin, HUANG Songpeng, WANG Chuan, WANG Zhenyao. The Initial Corrosion Behavior of Carbon Steel Exposed to the Coastal-Industrial Atmosphere in Hongyanhe. Acta Metall Sin, 2020, 56(10): 1355-1365.
The atmospheric corrosion of carbon steel is an extensive topic that has been studied by many authors who have proposed many mechanisms and techniques for studying the phenomena involved and have reported long term exposure data in many different regions throughout the world. However, there are few literatures that have discussed the corrosion results of carbon steel exposed for short-term time which can contribute to the understanding of the initial corrosion mechanisms. Therefore in this work, mass-loss measurement, SEM, XRD, infrared spectroscopy and electrochemical techniques have been used to investigate the initial corrosion evaluation of carbon steel exposed to a coastal-industrial atmospheric environment in Hongyanhe. Mass-loss results show that the short-term corrosion kinetic of carbon steel is in good fitting with linear function, and the average corrosion rate fluctuates over time and don't show the downward trend observed in long-term exposure experiments. Lepidocrocite, goethite and magnetite are identified in corrosion products formed on the surface of exposed carbon steel samples. The content of lepidocrocite shows a decreasing trend over exposure time, while goethite is the opposite. Magnetite appears in the later stages and keeps stable in amount. Pitting and an irregular localized corrosion can be observed clearly on the surface of carbon steel specimens exposed for 10 d. The corrosion product at pitting regions is circular flowery shape which varies in details as the physical and chemical environments change. The rust layer grows over time and eventually covers the entire surface of carbon steel samples exposed for more than 60 d, yet its thickness is uneven. The surface of rust layer has many nest-shaped structures that can't barricade the physical transmission effectively. The protective effect of rust layer has been further discussed in combination with electrochemical results.
Fig.1 Thickness reduction and corrosion rate of carbon steel exposed to a coastal-industrial environment as a function of exposure time
Fig.2 Temperatures and relative humidities of Hongyanhe coastal-industrial atmosphere
Fig.3 The surface macro-morphologies of carbon steel exposed for 10 d (a), 20 d (b), 30 d (c), 60 d (d) and 120 d (e) Color online
Fig.4 The surface micro-morphologies of carbon steel exposed for 10 d (a), 20 d (b), 30 d (c), 60 d (d) and 120 d (e)
Fig.5 SEM images and EDS analysis of carbon steel exposed to the costal-industrial atmospheric environment for 10 d (a) irregular localized corrosion (b) annular structure (c) mushroom-shaped structure (d) irregular circular area (e) EDS of irregular circular area in Fig.5d
Fig.6 SEM images and EDS analyses (Insets show the corresponding high magnified images) of carbon steel exposed to the costal-industrial environment for 60 d (a) low magnification (b) EDS of cotton balls (goethite) (c) EDS of flowery structure (lepidocrocite) (d) EDS of cigar-shaped structure (akaganeite)
Fig.7 Cross-sectional morphologies of the rust layer formed on the surface of carbon steel exposed for 10 d (a), 20 d (b), 30 d (c), 60 d (d) and 120 d (e)
Fig.8 XRD spectra of the scraped rust formed on carbon steel surface
Fig.9 The relative amount of corrosion products formed on carbon steel surface as a function of exposure time
Fig.10 Infrared spectra of corrosion product formed on carbon steel surface
Fig.11 Potentiodynamic polarization curves of unexposed and corroded carbon steel samples as a function of exposure time (E—potential, I—current density) Color online
Fig.12 EIS of corroded carbon steel as a function of exposure time (Z—impedance) (a) Nyquist plots (b) Bode plots
Fig.13 Equivalent circuit used for describing the corrosion of exposed carbon steel samples (R1—the resistance of electrolyte, Q—the capacitance of corrosion product, R2—the charge transfer resistance in corroded area, W—Warburg diffusion impedance, C—the double layer capacitance, R3—the charge transfer resistance in substrate area)
Fig.14 The resistances and capacities of corroded area (a) and substrate area (b) as a function of exposure time
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