Analysis of Degradation Behavior of Structural Steels Depending on Environment

환경에 따른 구조용 강의 열화거동 분석

Electro chemical corrosion tests were conducted on two structural steels, SS400 and SM490A, in various solutions with different pH values, All materials showed typical active corrosion behaviors in the solutions, and corrosion potential and current density were measured from the slopes obtained from the Tafel curves using linear polarization method. Corrosion potential increased in the acidic region and then decreased depending on the pH values of the solutions. All materials showed the fast corrosion rate in artificial acid rain(pH=4.7), but the slower corrosion rate was observed in NaOH solution(pH=12.0) for SS400 and in distilled water(pH=7.0) for SM490A, respectively, which is thought to come from the difference in chemical composition of two alloys. Generally homogeneous corrosion occurred in acid rain condition, and almost no corrosion was observed in distilled water in both alloys. NaOH solution produced more corrosion than distilled water, and more corrosion had progressed in SS400 than in SM490A in $3.5\%$ NaCl solution.