UniformGalvanicCrevicePittingIntergranularSSCLMEMICSCCHBHEHICFatigueErosionStrayCurrentIndex

DifferentTypesofCorrosion
Recognition,Mechanisms&Prevention

PittingCorrosion
Recognition

Whatispittingcorrosion?PittingCorrosionisthelocalizedcorrosion ofametalsurfaceconfinedtoapointorsmall
area,thattakestheformofcavities.Pittingisoneofthemostdamagingformsofcorrosion.Pittingfactoristheratio
ofthedepthofthedeepestpitresultingfromcorrosiondividedbytheaveragepenetrationascalculatedfromweight
loss. The following photo shows pitting corrosion of SAF2304 duplex stainless steel after exposure to 3.5% NaCl
solution.

Pittingcorrosionformsonpassivemetalsandalloyslikestainlesssteelwhentheultrathinpassivefilm(oxidefilm)is
chemicallyormechanicallydamagedanddoesnotimmediatelyrepassivate.Theresultingpitscanbecomewideand
shallowornarrowanddeepwhichcanrapidlyperforatethewallthicknessofametal.

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ASTMG46hasastandardvisualchartforratingofpittingcorrosion.
Theshapeofpittingcorrosioncanonlybeidentifiedthroughmetallographywhereapittedsampleiscrosssectioned
andtheshapethesizeandthedepthofpenetrationcanbedetermined.

Mechanisms
What causes pitting corrosion? For a defectfree "perfect" material, pitting corrosion IS caused by the
ENVIRONMENT (chemistry) that may contain aggressive chemical species such as chloride. Chloride is particularly
damagingtothepassivefilm(oxide)sopittingcaninitiateatoxidebreaks.
Theenvironmentmayalsosetupadifferentialaerationcell(awaterdropletonthesurfaceofasteel,forexample)
andpittingcaninitiateattheanodicsite(centreofthewaterdroplet).
Forahomogeneousenvironment,pittingIScausedbytheMATERIAL thatmaycontaininclusions(MnSisthemajor
culprit for the initiation of pitting in steels) or defects. In most cases, both the environment and the material
contributetopitinitiation.
The ENVIRONMENT (chemistry) and the MATERIAL (metallurgy) factors determine whether an existing pit can be
repassivatedornot.Sufficientaeration(supplyofoxygentothereactionsite)mayenhancetheformationofoxideat
thepittingsiteandthusrepassivateorhealthedamagedpassivefilm(oxide) thepitisrepassivatedandnopitting
occurs.Anexistingpitcanalsoberepassivatedifthematerialcontainssufficientamountofalloyingelementssuchas
Cr,Mo,Ti,W,N,etc..Theseelements,particularlyMo,cansignificantlyenhancetheenrichmentofCrintheoxide
andthushealsorrepassivatesthepit.Moredetailsonthealloyingeffects can befound in thetechnicalpaper on
"StainlessSteelsandAlloys:WhyTheyResistCorrosionandHowTheyFail".

Prevention
Howtopreventpittingcorrosion?Pittingcorrosion canbepreventedthrough:

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Properselectionofmaterialswithknownresistancetotheserviceenvironment
ControlpH,chlorideconcentrationandtemperature
Cathodicprotectionand/orAnodicProtection
Usehigheralloys(ASTMG48)forincreasedresistancetopittingcorrosion

Formoredetails
Moredetailsonpittingcorrosionareincludedinthefollowingcorrosioncourseswhichyoucantakeasinhouse
trainingcourses,onlinecoursesordistancelearningcourses:
CorrosionandItsPrevention(5daymodule)
CorrosionandItsPrevention(2daymodule)
Corrosion,Metallurgy,FailureAnalysisandPrevention(3days)
MarineCorrosion,CausesandPrevention(2days)
MaterialsSelectionandCorrosion(2days)
StainlessSteelsandAlloys:WhyTheyResistCorrosionandHowTheyFail(2days)

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