A Modelling Study on the Propagation Stage of Crevice Corrosion in Carbon Steels

Localized corrosion appears to be characterized by an intrinsic unpredictability, in the time and site of initiation of the process and in the rate and direction of the propagation of established cavities. This u predictability has made localized corrosion a very difficult phenomenon to analyze. Crevice corrosion involves a number of simultaneous and interaction operations, including mass transfer processes, production of metal ions within the crevice and hydrolysis reactions making isolated sites more active. The aim of this work is to develop a mechanistic model of the propagation stage of an established crevice, based on the Sharland's model but with a modified chemical equilibrium calculation methods. It is applied to crevice corrosion in carbon steel and demonstrated by testing some predictions being compared with experimental data