Galvanic reactions during localized corrosion on stainless steel

During localized (crevice and pitting) corrosion, a local cell is established between an anode within a crevice or pit and a cathode on the surrounding passive surface. Data are presented to show that concentrated acidic chloride solutions, simulating corrosion product hydrolysis within a crevice or pit, produce potentials which are active (negative) to the normal surface passive potential. This behaviour explains the previously observed active drift of corrosion potential after initiation of crevice or pitting attack in dilute chloride solutions. The active state in concentrated chloride solutions was quite noble (positive) compared to the active state in more dilute solutions. Thus, there is no need to invoke ohmic resistance effects to account for the active state within a crevice or pit. Experiments were devised in which the local anode within a crevice was physically separated from the nearby passive-surface cathode. When the two were coupled together electrically, the cathode surfaces were polarized nearly to the unpolarized local anode potential, with only a few millivolts anodic polarization at the anode within the crevice. The rate of localized corrosion appears from the data to be limited by the rate of dissolved-oxygen reduction on the cathode surfaces. Thus, localized corrosion in dilute chloride solutions will be increased by (a) raising the temperature, (b) adding an oxidizer such as Fe 3+ ions, or (c) substituting external anodic polarization for dissolved oxidizers. The overall potential, E corr acquired by a specimen undergoing pitting or crevice corrosion is demonstrated to be near the protection potential, E p below which pitting corrosion cannot propagate. Any potential active to E corr and E p results in cathodic polarization and suppression of the anode reaction in a crevice or pit. Since both E corr and E p vary with the extent of previous localized attack, E p is not a unique property of the alloy as has been sometimes suggested and is of limited value in classifying alloy resistance to localized corrosion.