Long term corrosion characteristics of metallic materials in marine environments

Long term corrosion test data in marine environments are essential data to guide the design and application of marine engineering. Corrosion test results, over a 16 year period from October 1986 to October 2002, using eight kinds of metallic materials are reported in this paper. Materials were exposed in the splash zone, tidal zone, and full immersion zone of four corrosion test stations located in Qingdao, Zhoushan, Xiamen and Yulin respectively, and therefore the corrosion behaviour of various ferrous and non-ferrous materials in these marine environments has been obtained. The corrosion of carbon steel in the seawater fits the following general relationship: D = A + K ( t –1). The variation in the general corrosion rates for the different carbon steels in seawater is relatively small and consistent. However, the pitting corrosion rates for the different carbon steels are all significantly different. The marine splash zone is about 0-2˙4 m above the mean high water level of the seawater. The corrosion peak was located about 0˙6 to 1˙2 m above the mean high water level. The order of the corrosion potential of stainless steels with the corrosion resistance of stainless steels is consistent in seawater. The corrosion of copper was found to be serious in the full immersion zone of the Yulin sea area. The effective lifetime of the cathodic protection for a wrapped aluminising layer of the hard and ultrahard aluminium may be 16 years.