The initial stage of pitting corrosion on coated steels investigated by photon rupture in chloride containing solutions

Abstract A photon rupture method, film removal by a focused pulse of pulsed Nd-YAG laser beam irradiation, has been developed to enable oxide film stripping at extremely high rates without contamination from the film removal tools. In the present study, Zn–55mass%Al alloy and Al–9mass%Si alloy-coated steel specimens covered with protective nitrocellulose film were irradiated with a focused pulse of a pulsed Nd-YAG laser beam at a constant potential in 0.5 kmol m−3 H3BO3–0.05 kmol m−3 Na2B4O7 (pH = 7.4) with 0.01 kmol m−3 of chloride ions to investigate the initial stage of localized corrosion. At low potentials, oxide films on both coated alloys were reformed after the nitrocellulose films were removed by this method. The oxide film formation kinetics follows an inverse logarithmic law, in agreement with Cabrera–Mott theory. However, at high potentials, localized corrosion producing corrosion products occurs at the area where nitrocellulose film was removed. Nevertheless, when the applied potential is less noble, the dissolution current of the Zn–55mass%Al-coated steel samples is higher than that of Al–9mass%Si-coated samples.