Uniform corrosion occurs when all, or at least a large section, of the passive layer is destroyed. This typically occurs in acids or in hot alkaline solutions. The influence of the alloy composition on the resistance to uniform corrosion may vary significantly between different environments; chromium is essential for ensuring the passivity of stainless steels, nickel helps reduce the corrosion rate of depassivated steel, molybdenum enhances passivity (except for strongly oxidising environments, such as warm concentrated nitric acid) and copper has a positive effect in the presence of reducing acids such as dilute sulphuric acid. In an environment with constant temperature and chemical composition, uniform corrosion occurs at a steady rate. This rate is often expressed as a loss of thickness per unit time, e.g. mm/y. Stainless steels are normally considered to be resistant to uniform corrosion in environments in which the corrosion rate does not exceed 0.1 mm/y. Impurities may drastically affect the corrosivity of acid solutions. For guidance on materials selection in a large number of environments capable of causing uniform corrosion, the tables and iso-corrosion diagrams in Outokumpu Corrosion Handbook may be consulted.
Chloride ions in a neutral or acidic environment facilitate local breakdown of the passive layer. As a result, pitting and crevice corrosion can propagate at a high rate, causing corrosion failure in a short time. Since the attack is small and may be covered by corrosion products or hidden in a crevice, it often remains undiscovered until perforation or leakage occurs.
Resistance to pitting corrosion is determined mainly by the content of chromium, molybdenum and nitrogen in the stainless steel. This is often illustrated using the pitting resistance equivalent (PRE) for the material, which can be calculated using the formula: PRE = %Cr + 3.3 x %Mo + 16 x %N. The PRE value can be used for rough comparisons of different materials. A more reliable means, however, is to rank the steel according to the critical pitting temperature (CPT) of the material. There are several different methods available, for example ASTM G 150 that uses the Avesta Cell with a 1M NaCl solution (35 000 ppm or mg/l chloride ions). The CPT-values are shown in the table below. Higher contents of chromium, molybdenum and nitrogen also enhance the crevice corrosion resistance of the stainless steel. Typical values of the critical crevice corrosion temperature (CCT) in 6% FeCl3 + 1% HCl according to ASTM G48 Method F are included in the table below. The CPT and CCT values vary with product form and surface finish, the values given are for ground surfaces. Both ASTM G150 and G48 are methods for ranking the relative pitting or crevice corrosion resistance for the different stainless steels but they do not give the maximum temperature for using these alloys in real service environments.
CPT according to ASTM G150. Wet ground to 120 grit
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CPT according to ASTM G48E. Dry ground to 120 grit
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CCT according to ASTM G48F. Dry ground to 120 grit
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Stress Corrosion Cracking Conventional stainless steels such as 4307 and 4404 are sensitive to stress corrosion cracking (SCC) under certain onditions, i.e. a special environment in combination with tensile stress in the material and often also an elevated temperature. Resistance to SCC increases with the increased content of above all nickel and molybdenum. This implies that the high performance austenitic steels 904L, 254 SMO®, 654 SMO®and 4565 have very good resistance to SCC.
PRE Pitting Resistant Equivalent calculated using the formula: PRE = %Cr + 3.3 x %Mo + 16 x %N
CPT Corrosion Pitting Temperature as measured in the Avesta Cell (ASTM G 150), in a 1M NaCl solution (35,000 ppm or mg/l chloride ions).
CCT Critical Crevice Corrosion Temperature is the critical crevice corrosion temperature which is obtained by laboratory tests according to ASTM G 48 Method F