Materials Today: Proceedings xxx (xxxx) xxx

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Materials Today: Proceedings

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Corrosion resistance of corten steel – A review

V.K. Bupesh Raja a,⇑, K. Palanikumar b, R. Rohith Renish c, A.N. Ganesh Babu d, Jashwanth Varma e,
P. Gopal f
a
School of Mechanical Engineering, Sathyabama Institute of Science and Technology, Chennai 600119, India
b
Sri Sai Ram Institute of Technology, Chennai 600044, India
c
Department of Mechanical Engineering, Vel Tech Rangarajan Dr Sagunthala R&D Institute of Science and Technology, Chennai 600062, India
d
Mechanical/Design Organisation, Integral Coach Factory, Chennai 600 038, India
e
School of Mechanical Engineering, Sathyabama Institute of Science and Technology, Chennai 600119, India
f
Jayasuriya Engineering College, Thiruvallur District, India

a r t i c l e i n f o a b s t r a c t

Article history: Corrosion which encompass material science, chemistry, physics, metallurgy and chemical engineering is
Received 3 December 2020 a topic of interest to interdisciplinary research groups. In order to comprehend the process of corrosion, it
Received in revised form 4 January 2021 is important to understand the reaction which takes place between the corrosive layer and the steel sur-
Accepted 6 January 2021
faces. Corten steel which is a type of weathering steel is a low alloy steel, well known for its property of
Available online xxxx
corrosion resistance. These steels are widely used in the construction of bridges, towers and in several
applications of architecture also. The present work provides a short analysis done by several investigators
Keywords:
on the corrosion of corten steel. This review discusses the problems such as corrosion rates and the for-
Corten steel
Corrosion
mation of rust layer at different exposed conditions. Finally, the effects of alloys and the long-term behav-
Weathering steel ior of the corten steel has also been reported.
Alloying Ó 2021 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.
Marine Selection and peer-review under responsibility of the scientific committee of the International Confer-
Atmospheric corrosion ence on Materials, Manufacturing and Mechanical Engineering for Sustainable Developments-2020.

1. Introduction of traditional WS in order to reduce hot embrittlement during

the rolling phase due to copper enrichment on the steel surface
Corten steel which is also known as weathering steel (WS) is a and to improve its ambient corrosion resistance in marine environ-
high strength low alloy steel that consists of copper, chromium, ments [11]. These steels have been developed in the early 19300 s
phosphorous, silicon and nickel [1,2]. These weathering steels and are widely used due to their excellent resistance to atmo-
may have to suffer extreme corrosion due to such high salinity spheric corrosion [12]. They also exhibit comparatively higher
levels. Over the last few years, Ni-advanced weathering steel, a resistance to corrosion than carbon steel in many types of atmo-
low alloy structural steel type with approximately 3.0 wt% Ni con- spheres due to their ability to form a lightweight, stable, adhesive
tent and a limited amount of Cu, has stimulated the great interest and protective rust coating for the period of exposure [13,14]. In
of designers of bridges, especially in the tropical coastal areas [3– addition to the presence of alloy elements, the chemical nature
5]. The corrosion resistance of weathering steel is higher than that of the environmental conditions also has a significant effect on
of carbon steel due to the rust safety coating formed on the weath- the formation of the defensive rust layer and hence resulting in
ering steel surface. This property is closely connected to the inclu- reduced corrosion rate [15]. The major applications of weathering
sion of some alloying elements [6–8]. Cu, Cr and Ni are the most steel include the construction of bridges, highway structures, elec-
commonly researched alloying elements applied to improve the tricity towers etc. [16–19]. The typical elemental composition of
corrosion behaviour of weathering steel, although only a few stud- weathering steel is given in Table 1.
ies have recorded the beneficial effect of Si on the corrosion resis-
tance of weathering steel [9,10]. Nickel was used in the synthesis
2. Corrosion

⇑ Corresponding author. Corrosion is the degradation of materials due to chemical reac-

E-mail address: [email protected] (V.K. Bupesh Raja). tions with the environment. The repercussions of corrosion are

https://doi.org/10.1016/j.matpr.2021.01.334
2214-7853/Ó 2021 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.
Selection and peer-review under responsibility of the scientific committee of the International Conference on Materials, Manufacturing and Mechanical Engineering for
Sustainable Developments-2020.

Please cite this article as: V.K. Bupesh Raja, K. Palanikumar, R. Rohith Renish et al., Corrosion resistance of corten steel – A review, Materials Today: Pro-
ceedings, https://doi.org/10.1016/j.matpr.2021.01.334
V.K. Bupesh Raja, K. Palanikumar, R. Rohith Renish et al. Materials Today: Proceedings xxx (xxxx) xxx

Table 1
Elemental composition of weathering steel (wt%) [20].

Weathering Steel Carbon Manganese Phosphorous Sulphur Silicon Copper Nickel Chromium Vanadium Aluminium
ASTM A588 0.13 1.03 0.006 0.019 0.25 0.33 0.015 0.56 0.038 0.043
ASTM A242 0.11 0.31 0.092 0.020 0.42 0.30 0.31 0.82 <0.01 0.08

numerous and may vary. Corrosion occurs in metals when the sur- the elongation as well reduction in area have reduced relatively.
face is exposed and comes into contact with gas or liquid, and the Bupesh Raja et al. [24] performed a comparative analysis on a
reaction is intensified by proximity to warm temperatures, acids or 3 mm thick corten steel plates when subjected to salt spray test.
reactive compounds. The effects of corrosion on the safe, effective The plates were initially welded and segregated into 3 samples –
and productive operation of machinery or systems are much more a parent plate (without any welding), bead on plate and a butt joint
severe than the mere loss of metal mass. Several researchers have plate. Tests such as Microstructural strength, hardness and tensile
put up a great deal of effort to carry out research on the corrosion strength of the plate was made on the samples before and after the
of steel weathering under different environmental conditions. This corrosion test. The findings suggest that the unsuitable welded
literature survey provides a wide range of studies carried out by a region could not withstand any stress and could also be quickly
number of researchers. corroded. The weight loss for this material is very high during
The work done by various investigators can broadly be classi- the salt spray test, and this material still has a quite strong corro-
fied into – sion tolerance when it is not harmed by the salt spray test. Xiaoyu
Guo et al.[25] investigated the adhesion potential of the under-
 Studies on corrosion products voltage rust layer produced by weathering steel (WS) in the simu-
 Effect of alloying on corrosion lated marine atmosphere. The electrochemical reaction after stress
of pre-rusted weathering steel specimens was used to explore
2.1. Studies on corrosion products insights into the actions of corrosion after cracking or delaminating
the rust layer. The rust layer on Q420qNH displayed a higher adhe-
In order to address, it is important to know about the interac- sion capacity than Q420qNHY. As the external load increased, the
tion of the material and the environment. The corrosion behaviour steel showed a gradually accelerated corrosion process. As the crit-
of the material cannot be defined until the atmosphere in which ical stress for the reliability model of WS bridges in coastal areas,
the material is to be exposed, has been established. Similarly, the 0.9fy for Q420qNH and 0.8fy for Q420qNHY is suggested. R.E.
corrosivity or aggressiveness of the atmosphere cannot be defined Melchers et al.[26] stated that the majority of available long-
until the substance to be subjected to the environment is known. term corrosion loss data sets of different weathering steel grades
Corrosion that happens in large manufacturing facilities, such as exposed to marine atmospheric environments are shown to be
nuclear power plants or chemical manufacturing plants, is proba- consistent with the multi-phase corrosion model previously sug-
bly the most hazardous of all. Plant shutdowns can also occur as gested for steels exposed to marine environments. This implies
a result of corrosion. It’s just one of the many overt and indirect that early corrosion by oxidation of weathering steels is increas-
effects. ingly prevented by the build-up of corrosion materials. This new
The exposure of weathering steels in the industrial-marine- understanding may have implications for the design of such steels
urban surroundings at ennore was studied by Dhaiveegan et al. for long-term corrosion of weathering steels.
[21] These were located near the east cost of India for about Through the structural and chemical analyzer, a spectrographic
3 years. Using ATR-FTIR, XDR tests and quantified using TGA anal- device that combines micro Raman and SEM microscopy measure-
ysis, iron oxyhydroxides and oxides present in the rust layers were ments at the same location to detect and classify the deposited
characterized. Using SEM, the morphology of the corrosion prod- atmospheric content, many weathering steel structures were
ucts was explained. Studies of ATR-FTIR and XDR showed that exposed in the urban atmosphere and analyzed by J. Aramendia
the corrosion products produced on the skyward surfaces were et al.[27]. On the steel surfaces of the examined works, many kinds
substantially more crystalline than those on the earthward sur- of sillicates and aluminosillicates containing particles were found.
faces. TGA demonstrated that the main corrosion products were The results showed that the conservation of the weathering steel
iron oxyhydroxides. The development of distinctive morphological changes the surface’s visual appearance and decreases the mate-
structures such as sandy crystal (lepidocrocite), needle like (geoth- rial’s atmospheric resistance. Renato Altobelli et al.[28] exposed
ite) and cigar shaped (akageneite) structures have been confirmed. carbon steel and weathering steel at three different forms of atmo-
In addition, the formation of geothite on the skyward surface was sphere (industrial, urban and humid site) for 1 to 3 months. Raman
revealed as a major constituent step in the rust layer, which was microscopy was used to characterize the corrosion products which
affected by the environmental presence of SO2. Similarly, Diaz were formed at various exposure locations where as Scanning elec-
et al. [22] studied the rust formed on a conventional and three Ni tron microscope was used to observe the morphology. Raman
advanced weathering steels, when they have been exposed in microscopy observed three different colors formed on the steel at
two marine atmospheres of moderate aggressivity (30 & 75 mg three different locations. Lepidocrocite and geothite were the main
Cl-/m2d) for a year. The rusts produced was analyzed by polarized phases present. There were also small quantities of magnetite sub-
light, SEM, XRD, Raman spectroscopy etc. The researchers conclude sequently encountered.
that the presence of high nickel content in steel (1–3% weight) Takenori Nakayama [29] discussed the approaches using inter-
results in high corrosion resistance at the moderate marine atmo- nal criteria to quantitatively calculate the composition of weather-
sphere. Jaroslav Kocich et al. [23] investigated the kinetics of corro- ing steel rust by X-ray diffraction. A procedure for determining the
sion, mechanical characteristics and the surface morphology of size of rust particles on the basis of molecular adsorption has also
weathering steel for the specimens which were exposed to the been introduced. Artificially experimenting with new approaches
environment for 6 months to 10 years. The findings confirm that to improving the corrosion resistance of steels are suggested by
the rate of corrosion depends on the corrosiveness of the environ- synthesized rust. Using the ultra-bright synchrotron radiation pro-
ment. The corrosion attack also affects the mechanical properties vided by Spring-8 and the neutron beam produced by a compact
of the material. More than the ultimate strength and yield strength, neutron source by RIKEN, the atmospheric corrosion phenomena

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V.K. Bupesh Raja, K. Palanikumar, R. Rohith Renish et al. Materials Today: Proceedings xxx (xxxx) xxx

of steels used for infrastructure were studied. MI Feng yi et al.[30] plasticity properties and impact properties of the steel and its
studied the corrosion activity of low carbon steel (CS), P- bearing chemical composition were evaluated. The study also covered the
steel (PS) and PRE weathering steel (P-REWS) exposed in china’s derived real values of partial material factors corresponding to
Jiangjin for two years. The results showed that corrosion data from the related RC1 to RC3 reliability classes in compliance with the
the experimental steel followed the bilogarithmic equation and the EN 1990 European standard. Vit Krivy et al. [36] also described
average corrosion depth of PS during the 2-year exposure test. P- the programme of experimental atmospheric corrosion experi-
REWS and was reduced by 19. Five percent and 28. 2 percent equal ments carried out on the weathering of steel bridges in the Czech
to that of CS, respectively. To classify the corrosion materials, the Republic. Attention was given to the assessment of corrosion pro-
scanning electron microscope, the electrochemical impedance cesses on girder bridge load-bearing structures with the roadway
spectroscope and the Fourier transform infrared spectroscope were above the supports. Selected results of experimental atmospheric
used. The research results showed that the formation of an amor- corrosion experiments aimed at measuring the thickness of corro-
phous ferric oxhydroxide layer near the substrate could be pro- sion materials were discussed in the report. Corrosion processes on
moted by P in steel. The addition of rare earth materials (RE) weathering steel bridges are greatly conditioned by the location
could effectively increase the resistance to rust. and position of the exposed surface within the structure as a result
Monika Kubzova et al.[31] produced corrosion on weathering of the tests.
steels surface of structures. The production of a protective corro- G. Tranchida et al. [37] grew anodic films in slightly alkaline
sion product layer on weathering steel is mainly affected by the solution on weathering steel. The photoelectrochemical results
time of wetness, the bridge’s structural solution and the concentra- showed that with E g = 2.0 eV they are n-type iron oxide. Due to
tion of atmospheric corrosion stimulators. Sulphur dioxide and the presence of highly doped iron oxide layers, the electro chemical
chloride are the major corrosion stimulators in the air. Concentra- impedance spectra prove that the rust layers have a higher conduc-
tions of Sulphur dioxide in Central Europe have decreased dramat- tivity with respect to anodic films. M. Morcillo et al. [38] aimed to
ically since the 1990 s. Chlorides, mostly from deicing salts used in fill the void of discussion in engineering point of view by providing
winter road repair, are currently the main corrosive stimulators. insight into the current state of awareness of this essential struc-
Across all exposed surfaces, the degree and scope of corrosion ture material to engineers, designers and steel manufacturers
damage to a steel structure located in an area of high chloride and presenting key research findings in a way that facilitates their
deposition is not standardised. Consequently, the tracking and practical application. First phase of this analysis covered various
dependency between the quantity of chlorides deposited and the aspects of weathering steel atmospheric corrosion, such as mecha-
position and orientation of standard steel bridge construction sur- nisms of corrosion, products and layers of corrosion, effects of envi-
face is critical. Pan Liu et al.[32] studied the microstructure and ronmental conditions of exposure, and long-term results. Vit Krivy
corrosion activity of weathering steel in three different solutions et al. [39] worked on the microclimatic effects of road traffic under
(S1: 3.5 wt% NaCl, S2: 3.5 w. percent NaCl + 0.052 wt% NaHSO3, the bridge. Using experimental in situ testing, the effect of chloride
S3: 3.5 wt% NaCl + 0.907 wt% NaHCO3). A strong percentage and deposition on the production of corrosion products is assessed. For
high vulnerability to corrosion is responsible for spontaneous this experiment two adjacent bridges made of weathering steel
boundaries. With immersion time, the thickness of rust increases and spanning various types of obstacles were chosen. The relation-
and is in the order of S1 > S3 > S2. The rust generated in the solu- ships and dependencies between the measured parameters (chlo-
tions S1 and S2 consists primarily of the y-FeOOH phase, but the ride deposition rate, corrosion rate, corrosion product thickness
latter is less defensive. The rust developed in the S1 solution is and chloride quantity in the corrosion product) were evaluated
thick and dense, resulting in similar security to that in the S3 and discussed.
solution.
Viktor Urban et al.[33] conducted an experiment on corrosion of 2.2. Effect of alloying on corrosion
weathering steel bridges. The basic property of weathering steel is
its ability in favourable conditions to produce a protective layer on Alloying are basically done to enhance the mechanical or chem-
its surface. This protective layer called patina covers the entire ical properties. Alloying elements may be applied to the metal to
structure’s surface, protects against external climatic influences improve a variety of properties, including hardness, strength, cor-
and is fully resistant to construction without a covering of anti- rosion resistance, machinability, etc. It is very popular for alloy ele-
corrosion coatings. The study describes the findings of corrosion ments to be applied to such metals in order to attain the unique
experiments conducted after one year of exposure to corrosion properties needed for the application. The inclusion of unique sub-
specimens. The work describes the position and location of the stances can alter many properties, ranging from strength to colour
exposed surface, examined with various advances on standard sur- to thermal conductivity. It is necessary to differentiate both normal
faces influenced by leakage of water and demonstrates the high and artificial corrosion combinations. Examples of normal or suit-
degree of similarity between the corrosion damage measured and able content and environmental ratios include nickel in caustic
the average thickness of the corrosion materials. The effect of car- conditions, lead in water, and aluminium in ambient exposures.
bon steel rust layers and weathering steel on corrosion has been In these conditions, contact between metal and the atmosphere
investigated by Xu Zhang et al. [34]. It was found that when its does not normally result in dangerous or expensive corrosion prob-
outer rust layer is removed, carbon steel corrosion slows down. lems. The mixture is a natural combination to have a strong resis-
The shortening of the wetting period in wet-dry cycles when the tance to corrosion.
outer rust layers are removed may be due to this phenomenon. I Diaz et al.[40] worked on 14 weathering steels produced by
In addition, the growth time of corrosion products is also short- the addition of Cu, Cr and Ni alloying elements to extra mild steel.
ened, leading to the formation of fine corrosion products. The The steel was exposed in various atmospheric conditions for
action of weathering steel corrosion, however is not obviously 5 years. The atmospheric resistance of steels were assessed and
affected by the outer rust layer and the wetting period. the X-ray diffraction, and scanning electroscope characterized the
Vit Krivy et al.[35] performed a comparative assessment of the rust layers created. The addition of Ni, at 3% by wt leads a good
actual material properties of the weathering steel used between increase in the corrosion resistance. In the composition of weather-
2001 and 2007 for the construction of motorway bridges in the ing steel, Kimura et al. [41] increased the nickel content to 3% to
Czech Republic. The assessment is conducted for a selection of study the rust layer formed when the material is exposed in mar-
S355J2W steel hot rolled plates. The strength characteristics, ine atmosphere in Japan for 9 years. The 3 percent Ni advanced
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V.K. Bupesh Raja, K. Palanikumar, R. Rohith Renish et al. Materials Today: Proceedings xxx (xxxx) xxx

weathering steel had an average penetration of about 20 times Lei Weng et al. [47] performed cyclic immersion experiments to
lower than that faced by traditional weathering steel. The authors investigate the corrosion behaviour of high Ti weathering steel
concluded that the presence of nickel in the composition of steel exposed to a simulated marine environment. The results indicate
modifies the rust’s surface charge, preventing the steel surface that the surface of high Ti weathering steel sample, protective cor-
from touching chloride ions. rosion products are developed improving the resistance to corro-
The effect of Ni on the corrosion resistance of Weathering Steel sion. The presence of titanium facilitates the formation of dense
in acid atmospheres were investigated by Cheng et al. [42] The and compact materials for corrosion, encouraging increased resis-
results showed that the 3.5 percent of Ni is the optimum nickel tance to corrosion. The weight loss, X-ray diffraction, Mossbauer
content to improve the atmospheric corrosion resistance. Different spectroscopy and transmission electron microscopy were studied
surface analysis and electrochemical techniques were used to for corrosion resistance in saline conditions of weathering steel
investigate the properties of rust films produced on Ni advanced under various concentrations of Si by Mejia Gomez et al. [48].
weathering steels in tropical marine climate by Jinghuan Jia et al. The study showed that with increasing Si concentration, the steels
[43]. The findings suggest that the corrosion rate of the exposure exhibit better corrosion efficiency. Fe oxides such as geothite, lepi-
of Ni advanced weathering steels with different Cu content in Male docrocite and magnetite were formed. The dominant phase in the
island for 2 years is much higher than that of lower chloride levels rust formed on Si steels is superparamagnetic geothite, which
in the marine atmosphere. The Cu does not affect the phase com- means the Si favours the formation of geothite with small particle
position of rust films produced on various Ni advanced weathering sizes.
steels. In the cyclic immersion test, the effect of the chromium content
The copper (Cu), chromium (Cr), nickel (Ni) and zinc (Zn) are on the S450EW weathering steel was tested by Jun shan Wang
electroplated to grade steel A588 corten by J.R. Deepak et al. et al. [49]. The findings showed that S450EW weathering steel cor-
[44]. Microstructure, micro-hardness and surface morphology are rosion resistance is closely linked to the content of chromium. The
examined after depositing the coating. This is achieved by X-ray addition of chromium greatly prevented the corrosion of the
diffraction (XRD), Vicker hardness and field emission scanning weathered steel. After 96 h of immersion, the corrosion rate of
and electron microscopy (FESEM) respectively. XRD and EDS the experimental steel was 1.101 g.m-2.h-1. The rust of S450EW
demonstrate the presence of Cu, Cr, Ni and Zn elements in the weathering steel consisted mainly of the FeOOH and Fe3O4 phases,
respective coatings and the maximum micro-hardness of and the development of aFeOOh was promoted by the elevation of
1918.1HVN is observed in the Cr coated corten A588 substrate. chromium material. In addition, the rise of chromium is useful by
Electrochemical impedance spectroscopy (EIS) is studied to deter- the enrichment of chromium for the treatment of original defects
mine the corrosion activity of the coated and uncoated samples. EIS and cacks of the rust sheet. Hao et al. [50] used the cyclonic corro-
studies show that chromium electroplated steel has superior cor- sion test to investigate the corrosion evolution in the simulated
rosion resistance (Ecorr – 1,742 V; I corr – 0,334 mA) rather than coastal environment of MnCuP weathering steel giving more atten-
Cu, Ni, Zn coatings and uncoated corten A588 substrate. The weight tion to the corrosion kinetics and evolutions in the morphology of
loss study is also conducted on coated and uncoated samples with rust and the electrochemical features. The authors found that in a
3.5 percent NaCl per week and the findings indicate a minimum simulated coastal atmosphere, the weathering steel containing Mn,
weight loss in Cr coated corten A588 samples. Accordingly, the Cu and P resulted with excellent corrosion resistance. The increase
study shows that the Cu, Cr, Ni and Zn coated corten samples in the amount of a-FeOOH and the decreased amount of Fe3O4 in
A588 are ideal for construction applications. Xu Zhang et al.[45] the rust layer shows the improvement in the corrosion resistance
subjected a low alloy weathering steel to an indoor air to investi- of the rusted steel. The rust layer strengths and stabilizes the
gate the effect of periodic modified environments on corrosion. It cathodic phase. Due to the self-healing ability of the rust layer,
was found that when the samples were sprayed with NaCl aqueous the minute stress cracks caused by wet/dry cycles will die during
solution, both the atmospheric corrosion rate and the degree of the subsequent corrosion prosses.
alloy element enrichment in the internal rust layer were higher. Wang Yue et al.[51] studied the high strength weathering steel
Meanwhile, when the samples were sprayed with NaHSO3 aqueous corrosion performance with Cu, Cr micro-alloying under as-rolled,
solution, more compact rust layers were created. By spraying aque- annealed, normalised, and thermomechanical control process
ous solutions of NaCl and NaHSO3 in turns, the rust layer can sta- (TMCP). Results showed that pearlite and ferrite were composed
bilise more quickly than spraying a corrosion solution, which can of the microstructures of steels under as-rolled, annealed and nor-
be due to a combined advantage of enrichment of the alloy ele- malised states. There was no difference in the corrosion potential
ment and slow corrosion. Rust layer stabilisation is not inherently of naked steels in TMCP, as-rolled, annealed and normalised
derived from the enrichment of alloy elements, and rust layer sta- states, but the corresponding corrosion currents were
bilisation can have a greater impact on more corrosion than alloy 0.1287  10-5A.cm2, 0.4418  10-5A.cm2, 0.7364  10-5A.cm2
element enrichment. By the regression analysis, rust structure and 1.064  10-5A.cm2. The TMCP steel polarisation resistance
observation, X-ray diffraction, Raman spectrum and electrochemi- decreased to 1304 O cm after two months, but the annealed, as-
cal impedance spectra techniques, the corrosion behaviour of rolled and normalised steel increased to 1881 Ocm2, 1561 Ocm2
weathering steel and carbon steel exposed in the marine atmo- and 1068 Ocm2 respectively. A newly produced low-alloy weather-
sphere for 4 years was studied by Q.C. Zhang et al. [46]. The find- ing steel has been exposed for one year in China by Shu tao Wang
ings show that the weathering steel corrosion procedure is et al.[52] at two coastal sites (Qingdao in the north, Wanning in the
divided into two stages. The corrosion rate is higher in the first south). The Wanning samples corroded even more strongly than
step, while the corrosion rate is greatly decreased in the second the Qingdao samples. X-ray diffraction (XRD) scanning electron
step due to compact layer rust that is gradually formed during microscopy (SEM), N2 adsorption approach, polarisation, examined
exposure. The lightweight darkened rust layer on weathering steel the rust layer formed on the steel Curves, and spectroscopy of elec-
observed by polarized light is made of iron oxyhydroxide substi- trochemical impedance (EIS). There are more X-ray amorphous
tute Cr. In addition, an analogous circuit is set up to reflect the compounds in the rust produced in Qingdao and it is more compact
interfaces between rusted steels and 3% NaCl solution, and the than that formed in Wanning. In the rust layer near the steel
steel’s rust layer resistances are deduced from an extrapolation matrix, Cr and Cu are enriched, and the phenomenon is more evi-
of the impedance spectra of electrochemistry to estimate the pro- dent in Qingdao than in Wanning. The rust layer formed in Qingdao
tective properties. more strikingly suppresses the anodic and cathodic response than
4
V.K. Bupesh Raja, K. Palanikumar, R. Rohith Renish et al. Materials Today: Proceedings xxx (xxxx) xxx

that formed in Wanning. The rust layer produced in Qingdao has a References
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