Vol.16, No.2, 2016, pp.87–93
UDC 620.196.2:669.14.018.8-194.56

FIELD APPLICABLE METHODS FOR INTERGRANULAR CORROSION TESTING OF STAINLESS STEELS STRUCTURES

Bore Jegdić1, Biljana Bobić1, Jasmina Stevanović1, Behar Alić2

1)University of Belgrade, Institute for Chemistry, Technology and Metallurgy, Belgrade, Serbia, borejegdic@yahoo.com

2)Metallurgical Institute ‘Kemal Kapetanović’, Zenica, Bosnia and Herzegovina

Abstract

Determination of the susceptibility of austenitic stainless steel X5CrNi18-10 to intergranular corrosion (IGC) is performed by measuring the corrosion potential Ecorr in a drop of a test solution with specific chemical composition. It has been shown that a good correlation exists between the results obtained by Ecorr measurements in a drop of the test solution and the results obtained by the double loop electrochemical potentiokinetic reactivation method (DL EPR). The results are confirmed by SEM analysis of the stainless steel surface after the IGC test. The method of Ecorr measurements is a simple non-destructive method that provides qualitative information on the susceptibility of the stainless steel to IGC. The DL EPR method is a quantitative method that can determine small differences in the susceptibility of stainless steel to IGC. Simple and cheap equipment is required to perform Ecorr measurements. The method is easy to perform on stainless steel structures in the field.

Keywords: stainless steels, intergranular corrosion, test methods

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