On the quantitative evaluation of the inclination of corrosion-resistant steels to intergranular corrosion

To determine the dependence of Qa/Qp parameter (where Qa - reactivaton charge, Qp - passivation charge) on the degree of material inclination to intergranular corrosion (IGC) the 08Kh18N10T steel smaples have been subjected to high-temperature heating during 5 h (1050-1230 deg) with subsequent heating during 50 h up to 600 deg or without it. It is shown that the samples subjected to quenching are not inclined to IGC, whereas the samples quenched and tempered have different inclination degree to IGC characterized by cracks appearance at sample bend and IGC penetration depth. Comparing the testing results by the different methods one can see that the Qa/Qp parameter reflects variations in the degree of steel inclination to IGC and can serve as quantitative criterion