Methodology of Crevice Corrosion Testing for Stainless Steels in Natural and Treated Seawaters

Crevice corrosion in chloride-containing environments, particularly sea water, poses a serious threat to the integrity of stainless steels and has been responsible for many failures. The need for a reliable test method to measure the susceptibility of passive metals to crevice corrosion in sea water has been addressed recently in a major European Programme, CREVCORR. This work was coordinated by Bard Espelid of DNV (Norway) and involved collaboration between ten different companies in six European countries. Many members of EFC Working Party 9 (Marine Corrosion) participated in the work. The first nine chapters of the book describe the development of the new crevice corrosion test method for plate and tubular materials and its application to a number of austenitic, ferritic and duplex stainless steels. A key aim was to develop a crevice corrosion test procedure where the biological activity and oxidation capacity of natural and treated sea waters are simulated electrochemically. Another important aspect of the work was to formulate a new synthetic sea water capable of simulating the corrosiveness of natural and treated sea waters, including the effects of the bio-films that can form in natural waters. The final chapter presents the results of two large collaborative test programmes involving a total of 19 laboratories in eight countries worldwide. These involved tests in natural and synthetic sea waters to evaluate the new crevice test and synthetic sea water. The book will be of value to scientists and engineers engaged in the selection of stainless steels for applications in sea water and other chlorinated natural environments.