| Summary: | Arctic waters present significant challenges for ship constructional steels. Mostly they are alloyed to meet strength and ductility conditions sufficient to ensure adequate structural safety conditions for low temperature conditions. However, their corrosion resistance characteristics are not well understood and may be important for periods when ice conditions are sufficient to severely damage or remove protective coatings. Although cathodic protection usually would be expected to be sufficient to maintain the steels in adequate condition, the unprotected corrosion behaviour under relatively short-term (months) exposure conditions is of interest to industry. The present paper reports interim progressive corrosion mass loss results for 5 different specialized low alloy structural steels used in ship construction. The steels for the samples were supplied by Pusan National University and were manufactured in Korean steel mills. Corrosion loss results are given for progressive periods up to 2-year immersion exposures in unpolluted seawater near Vladivostok (Russia) and, for comparison, in temperate Pacific Ocean waters at Taylors Beach (Australia). The Russian waters are subject to ice conditions for 5-8 months in winter and relatively warm seawater conditions in summer (around 24-30°C).
|
|---|