An examination of the electrochemical characteristics of two stainless steels (UNS S32654 and UNS S31603) under liquid-solid impingement

The erosion-corrosion resistance of high alloy stainless steel UNS S32654 and standard stainless steel UNS S31603 has been assessed under liquid-solid impingement conditions. The electrochemical characteristics of the two stainless steels have been examined via free corrosion potential measurements, anodic polarisation, linear polarisation and potentiostatic control in erosion-corrosion. It has been shown in this paper that high alloy stainless steel UNS S32654 exhibits better corrosion and erosion-corrosion performance than lower grade alloy UNS S31603. A general linear relationship between two electrochemical parameters (E-corr and R-p) has been shown in this study. A critical solid loading between 60 and 100 mg/l, at which there is a transition from corrosion to erosion-corrosion for the two stainless steels under different conditions, has been determined. (C) 2003 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.