J.W. van der Merwe

Corrosion of WC-VC-Co Hardmetal in Neutral Chloride Containing Media

The effect of varying VC content on the corrosion behavior of WC-10 wt% Co hardmetals in sodium chloride (NaCl) and synthetic mine water (SMW) solutions has been investigated using anodic polarization scans and surface analytical methods. It is shown that the polarization behavior is active-pseudopassive in NaCl and active in SMW regardless of the VC content, while the corrosion resistance is poorer and independent of VC content in NaCl but better at high VC contents in SMW. The corrosion behavior of samples is explained using the effect of VC on the chemical composition of the binder.

Corrosion resistance of duplex stainless steels in selected organic acids and organic acid/chloride environments

Purpose – The purpose of this paper is to supplement the scant previous investigations on the corrosion behaviour of 2205 and 2507 duplex stainless steels in selected organic acids containing chloride additions.Design/methodology/approach – Microstructural examination of the alloys was first carried out, after which the corrosion behaviour of the alloys in citric, oxalic, formic and acetic acids containing chloride additions at varying temperatures was studied using electrochemical techniques.Findings – The alloy 2507 material had a larger grain size than did the alloy 2205 sample. The corrosion resistances of the alloys generally are highest in acetic acids and lowest in citric acid. The addition of chloride had a pronounced effect on their corrosion resistance. Alloy 2507 generally exhibited higher corrosion resistance in all of the acids than alloy 2205, with the exception of acetic acid at room temperature. The 50:50 ratio of ferrite to austenite composition, as revealed by phase compositional analysi...

Effect of small additions of ruthenium on pitting corrosion resistance of LDX2101 duplex stainless steel

Abstract Four stainless steel alloys with ruthenium compositions of 0·16, 0·24, 0·32 and 0·64 wt-% were produced from pieces cut from commercial LDX2101 duplex stainless steel plate with the manufacturer’s composition of 0·03C–21·5Cr–1·5Ni–0·3Mo–5·0Mn plus pressed ruthenium powder with purity of 99·8%. After solution annealing the samples, the actual chemical composition was analysed using X-ray fluorescence analysis, and then, ASTM A923 (01·03) test method A – sodium hydroxide etch test for classification of etch structures of duplex stainless steel was used to analyse their microstructure. Corrosion potential and pitting potential of these samples were evaluated using a potentiodynamic polarisation technique, and the results were compared to corrosion and pitting potentials of the control alloy LDX2101. The tests for both produced and control alloys were performed in naturally aerated 3·56%NaCl aqueous solution at 25±2°C. The results indicated that small additions of ruthenium significantly improved the pitting potentials of the resulting alloys. The results also indicated that ruthenium additions have no detrimental effect to the microstructure of the resulting alloys. In addition, if such small additions of ruthenium will not improve the general corrosion of the resulting alloy, it will at least not have any detrimental effect on the resulting alloy. Ruthenium will also lower the current required to maintain the passive state of LDX2101 stainless steel. In addition to reduced current to maintain the passivity of LDX2101 stainless steel, ruthenium also increased the passive range of LDX2101 stainless steel.

Corrosion resistance of laser cladded 304L stainless steel enriched with Ru in hydrochloric acid

The corrosion behaviour of laser surface cladding made from 304L stainless steel alloyed with varying concentrations of ruthenium in 1M HCl at 25°C was evaluated, fresh and after 12 hours, by electrochemical tests including open circuit potential and potentiodynamic polarisation scans. The ruthenium concentration in the 800 µm cladded layer varied from 0.82 wt-% to 4.67 wt-% ruthenium. The ruthenium doped samples were compared against a 304L stainless steel laser surface cladding with no ruthenium, 304L stainless steel samples with no laser cladding, 316L stainless steel, SAF2205 duplex stainless steel and Hastelloy C276®. Initial passivation was not observed in the 1M HCl but after 12 hours the addition of ruthenium led to reduced corrosion rates and improved passivation characteristics compared to the surface cladding without ruthenium. An optimum ruthenium range was observed between 3 wt-% and 5 wt-%. It was shown that at this optimum concentration, the ruthenium containing stainless steel clad on 304L stainless steel can compete commercially with the SAF2205 and Hastelloy C276® as long as the clad is 200 µm or less.