Study of corrosion wear of carbon building steels during preservation in an inert gas environment

One effective method for preserving various materials is preservation in an inert gas atmosphere. The objective of this study is to investigate the corrosion wear of carbon structural steels during preservation in an inert gas atmosphere. Using local predictive models, the relationship between the volume fraction of oxygen in the protective atmosphere, the chemical composition of the alloys undergoing preservation, and the corrosion rate was analyzed. It was shown that for carbon structural steels, the corrosion rate in the protective atmosphere is practically independent of the content of chemical elements. The higher the ratio of nickel to chromium equivalents, the more susceptible the steel is to corrosion wear. During tests of S345 (09G2S) in a vacuum chamber with controlled oxygen levels, it was found that the corrosion rate increases sharply in the initial period due to the formation of oxide films, and then decreases because the resulting corrosion products block the corrosive medium’s access to the undamaged metal. The predicted corrosion rates of 09G2S steel in media containing 1 and 2% oxygen were 0.0026 and 0.0077 mm/year, respectively. A comparison of the predicted data obtained by calculation based on the chromium equivalent and the equivalent ratio showed that for structural steels, the calculation based on the chromium equivalent yields higher corrosion rates. The results obtained can be used in assessing the predicted corrosion rate of structural steels and the permissible volume fraction of oxygen in the protective gas atmosphere during preservation.

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