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Cr
19.833
Ni
6.833
Mn
0.215
Si
0.603
S
0.001
P
0.023
Ti
0.39
Fe
balance
500 r.p.m. After that, these samples were tempered at 500, 600, 700, 800 0C respectively for 2
hours and cooled in water.
Weight-Loss Technique
The specimens were cut from sheet to a dimension of 5*5*25 mm. They were then grounded
with silicon carbide abrasive papers of 320, 600, 800 and 1200 grit sizes respectively and finally
degreased in acetone. The coupons were rinsed with distilled water, dried and then weighed before
exposure. Before recording the mass change, the specimens were chemically cleaned according to
ASTM Standards G1 and G31. The acidic solution of 5% wt. H2SO4 was prepared with distilled
water and analytical grade chemicals.
Electrochemical Technique
For electrochemical analysis, the specimens were polished to 1200 grit sizes and then
cleaned with distilled water. Potentiostat-model (PI-50-1) was used in determining corrosion
kinetics and speed of total dissolution in active, transitive and passive areas of potentials. Prior to
electrochemical tests, the specimens were cathodically cleaned for 15 min at -0.60 V Ag/AgCl to
remove the air-formed oxide film. A three-electrode cell composed of a specimen as a working
electrode, Pt counter electrode, and Ag/AgCl reference electrode were used for the tests.
Polarization tests were carried out at a scan rate of 12 mV/min in 5% wt. H2SO4 solution at 25 C.
Specimens with exposed surface area of 0.35 cm2 were used as a working electrode.
Results and Discussions
Weight-Loss Measurements
Figures 1 shows the speed of dissolution of as-received and heat treated specimens in 5%
wt. H2SO4 and solution by weight-loss method. It can be seen from this Figure that the speed of
dissolution of solution heat treated and as-received samples give the lowest speed while it increases
by increasing tempered temperatures. This is due to at temperature above 1035 0C chromium
carbide are completely dissolved in austenitic stainless steels. However, when these steels are
reheated into the range of 500 to 800 0C, chromium carbide precipitates at the grain boundaries and
its concentration increases by increasing temperature [ 3 ]. This precipitation of carbide depletes
chromium adjacent to the grains boundary and the alloy is sensitized to intergranular corrosion or it
forms a concentration cell, in which the depletion zone works as anode and rich chromium zone
works as cathode. Thus, the corrosion attack occurs predominantly.
Electrochemical Behavior
PotentialTime Behavior
Figure 2 shows the change of the open-circuit potential of as-received
and heat treated samples at different conditions in 5% wt. H2SO4 solution. The
recorded results reveal that the corrosion potential of solution heat treated and asreceived are nobler than the tempered specimens which exhibit more negative open circuit potential
values by increasing their tempered temperatures. This behavior for tempered samples is attributed
to a depletion of chromium which causes weakness in the passive film [2]. Comparing the
results in Figure 2, it can be noticed that the corrosion potential increases very
fast towards more noble values. This means that the passive film in this solution stable
thermodynamically [1]. In general, a more positive corrosion potential means that the metal
can be expected to be more resistant to corrosion in that particular electrolyte than one with a more
negative corrosion potential.
-1050/800 0C / 2h
-1050/700 0C / 2h
-1050/600 0C / 2h
-1050/500 0C / 2h
- as-received
-heat treated at 1050 0C
Figure 1 Weight loss-time curves for the corrosion of the investigated alloy in 5wt. %
H2SO4 at different heat treatment
-1050/800 0C / 2h
-1050/700 0C / 2h
-1050/600 0C / 2h
-1050/500 0C / 2h
- as-received
-heat treated at 1050 0C
also associated with hydrogen evolution. Therefore, the cathodic reaction was considered to be the
hydrogen evolution reaction, the predominant reaction in acidic solution.
Additionally, the cathodic and anodic polarization curves show that with an increase in
tempered temperatures from 500 to 800 0C the corrosion potential shifted to more active potential
regions and consequently the corrosion current density increased significantly in both solutions.
This is attributed to the precipitation of carbide which depletes chromium [2].
Figure 4 illustrates the anodic dissolution curves of austenitic stainless steel in 5% wt.
H2SO4 for as-received and heat treated samples at different temperatures. The Figure shows that all
anodic curves reveal active, passive and transpassive behavior; however the current densities in the
passive range were much lower for the solution heat treated and as-received samples, indicating the
formation of a more protective film on the solution heat treated and as-received samples than on
those that were tempered samples . It can be seen also from this Figure that, with increase in
tempered temperatures from 500 to 800 0C, the critical current density grows and the active
dissolution region extended.
-1050/800 0C / 2h
-1050/700 0C / 2h
-1050/600 0C / 2h
-1050/500 0C / 2h
- as-received
-heat treated at 1050 0C
-1050/800 0C / 2h
-1050/700 0C / 2h
-1050/600 0C / 2h
-1050/500 0C / 2h
- as-received
-heat treated at 1050 0C
Figure 4 Effect of heat treatment on the anodic dissolution of austenitic stainless steel
in 5% wt. H2SO4 solution.
Conclusions
From the above given study it could be concluded that:
1-The speed of dissolution and the corrosion current of the tested steel increased by increasing the
tempering temperatures in the tested solution.
2-The region of passivity decreases with increasing in sensitized temperatures in 5% wt. H2SO4
solution.
References
[1] Y. Zhang, X. Zhu, Electrochemical Polarization And Passive Film Analysis of
Austenitic Fe-Mn-Al Steels in Aqueous Solutions, Corro. Sci.,Vol. 41, 1999 ,
p.1817-1833
[2] N.Chermat and R. Kesri, Corrosion-Electrochemical Behavior of 13%
Chromium (Cr) Martensitic Stainless Steel in Hydrochloric Acid (HCl) Solutions,
Protec. of Met., Vol. 43, (No. 4), 2007, p. 344352
[ 3] V. Singh and M. Ray, Effect Of H2SO4 Addition on The Corrosion Behaviour
of AISI 304 Austenitic Stainless Steel in Methanol-HCl Solution,
Int. J.
Electrochem. Sci., Vol. 2, 2007, p. 329 340
[4] A. Aldykiewicz and H . Isaacs, Dissolution Characteristics of Duplex Stainless
Steels in Acidic Environments, Corro. Sci.,Vol. 39, (No.9), 1999 , p.1627-1647