An Investigation on the Optimum Corrosion Protection Potential for Minimization of Cavitation Damage Using the Potentiostatic Method in Seawater

Abstract In this study, we replaced the expensive blade material with an aluminum–bronze alloy that has excellent corrosion resistance and cavitation characteristics and developed the corrosion protection method to improve durability using an electrochemical method. The objective of this study was to identify the electrochemical corrosion protection conditions to minimize cavitation damage due to generating hydrogen gas (2H₂O + 2e⁻ → 2OH⁻ + H₂) by means of hydrogen overvoltage before the impact pressure of the cavity is transferred to the surface. In the constant potential experiment under the cavitation environment, the energy was reflected or cancelled out by collision of the cavities with the hydrogen gas generated by the hydrogen overvoltage. As a result, the optimal corrosion prevention potential in the dynamic state is assumed to be the range of −1.4 to −1.7 V, which is the range at which active polarization took place.