UDK 620.

19 ISSN 1580-2949
Professional article/Strokovni ~lanek MTAEC9, 46(4)423(2012)

M. TORKAR et al.: CREVICE CORROSION OF STAINLESS-STEEL FASTENING COMPONENTS ...

CREVICE CORROSION OF STAINLESS-STEEL

FASTENING COMPONENTS IN AN INDOOR
MARINE-WATER BASIN
[PRANJSKA KOROZIJA PRITRDILNIH KOMPONENT IZ
NERJAVNEGA JEKLA V NOTRANJEM BAZENU Z MORSKO
VODO

Matja` Torkar, Franc Tehovnik, Matja` Godec

Institute of Metals and Technology, Lepi pot 11, SI-1000 Ljubljana, Slovenia
[email protected]

Prejem rokopisa – received: 2012-02-07; sprejem za objavo – accepted for publication: 2012-02-16

Equipment made from austenitic stainless steel corroded already after six months of the operation of an indoor marine-water
basin. Two super chlorinations were performed during this period. Corroded stainless-steel components and different fastening
components were investigated to detect the corrosion causes and improve the bathers’ safety. Pitting corrosion was observed on
flat surfaces, while crevice corrosion prevailed on the nuts and spring washers of bolted joints. The main reasons for the
corrosion damages were: a high concentration of chlorides, a deficient control of sacrificial anodes, a lower corrosion resistance
of spring washers and an inaccurate montage of some fastening components. The corrosion processes due to chloride ions can
be reduced with frequent washing of all stainless-steel components with clear water and timely replacements of the sacrificing
anodes.
Keywords: stainless steel, SEM, cathodic protection, chlorination, pitting corrosion, crevice corrosion

V notranjem bazenu z morsko vodo je vsa oprema, izdelana iz avstenitnega nerjavnega jekla, po {estih mesecih obratovanja
za~ela rjaveti. V tem obdobju sta bili izvr{eni tudi dve superkloriranji. Povr{ine komponent in razli~ni pritrdilni elementi iz
nerjavnega jekla, prizadeti s korozijo, so bili preiskani zaradi ugotavljanja vzroka korozije in tudi zaradi varnosti kopalcev. Na
ravnih povr{inah je prevladovala jami~asta korozija, {pranjska korozija pa je prevladovala pri maticah, vzmetnih podlo`kah in
pri vija~enih spojih. Glavni razlogi za korozijske po{kodbe so bili kombinacija velike koncentracije kloridov, pomanjkljiva
kontrola `rtvenih elektrod, slab{a korozijska obstojnost vzmetnih podlo`k in nenatan~na monta`a drugih pritrdilnih komponent.
Korozijske procese zaradi kloridnih ionov zmanj{amo s pogostim ~i{~enjem in spiranjem komponent iz nerjavnega jekla s ~isto
vodo in s pravo~asno menjavo `rtvenih elektrod.
Klju~ne besede: nerjavno jeklo, vrsti~na elektronska mikroskopija (SEM), katodna za{~ita, klorinacija, jami~asta korozija,
{pranjska korozija

1 INTRODUCTION placed in time, the system loses the protective role and
the corrosion processes on the components become more
The atmosphere of the indoor basins is one of the intensive.
most aggressive in a building environment. Under spe- Bathers also introduce contaminants into the water.
cific temperature conditions chlorine containing chemi- Being added to the water, the chlorine hydrolyzes rapidly
cal species in the vapours of the pool water can condense and produces hypochlorous acid (HOCl) and hydrochlo-
onto the stainless-steel components and dry out. After ric acid (HCl) as described by equation (1):
several repetitions of this process very aggressive con-
centrations of chlorine-containing mixtures may build Cl2 +H2O » HOCl + HCl (1)
up. As the presence of marine water accelerates the chlo- Depending on the variation of the water pH the con-
ride attack1, the use of austenitic stainless steel alloyed centration of hypochlorous acid versus the concentration
with molybdenum is recommended. The situation is ag- of hypochlorite (OCl–) varies as well. Hypochlorous acid
gravated when the austenitic stainless-steel components is weak and it ionizes at pH 7.5 and at 25 °C 3 by equa-
are not regularly cleaned. tion (2).
Galvanic or sacrificial anodes are often used for the HOCl » H+ + OCl– (2)
corrosion protection of the basin equipment. Stain-
less-steel components are connected with wires to the When nitrogen and HOCI combine, chloramines like
sacrificing anodes absorbing the corrosion currents to the monochloramine, dichloramine and nitrogen trichloride
anodes as they are designed to have a more negative are formed according to the equations (3 to 5):
electrochemical potential than the equipment to be pro- NH3 + HOCl » NH2Cl + H2O (3)
tected. A sacrificing anode2 (made of Zn or Mg alloys)
continues to corrode (sacrifice), being consumed until a NH2Cl + HOCl » NHCl2 + H2O (4)
replacement becomes necessary. If the anode is not re- NHCl2 + HOCl » NCl3 + H2O (5)

Materiali in tehnologije / Materials and technology 46 (2012) 4, 423–427 423

M. TORKAR et al.: CREVICE CORROSION OF STAINLESS-STEEL FASTENING COMPONENTS ...

The reactions (1) to (5) are in equilibrium and occur ily removable with a cloth. Corrosion pits were present
in the forward and reverse directions. on the steel surface under the rust. An in-situ control of
The chloramine causes the characteristic chlorine all the basin components revealed rusted sites around the
pool smell4. The nitrogen trichloride is more problematic screws in the plastic inlets for fresh water (Figure 1), in
in the case of a heated indoor basin because more nitro- the frames for the underwater lights and also on the
gen trichloride is vaporised5. joints connecting a step with a vertical holder tube (Fig-
Two methods are used to eliminate chloramines6,7: ure 2). In fact, all stainless steel parts were more or less
break-point chlorination and super-chlorination. The corroded.
later process is known as shocking because, with an ad- The aim of this investigation was to reveal the rea-
dition of chlorine, the total chlorine in the basin water sons for general corrosion on all stainless-steel decora-
rises up to an amount ten times above the normal chlo- tive and fastening components around and in the swim-
rine level. This operation is performed in a basin without ming pool. The safety of bathers was endangered also
any bathers. The basin can be used again when the level because of the rusted fastening joints of the vertical
of chlorine is back down to around 5 μg/g. In general, the stairs.
super-chlorination process is harmful to stainless-steel
equipment and accelerates pitting- and crevice
2 EXPERIMENTAL PROCESS
corrosions.
Chlorine is 100 % effective when the pH of water is After only six months of the operation corrosion
5.5. Such pH is too acidic for people to comfortably products were observed on all the stainless-steel compo-
swim and it also accelerates the corrosion. At a higher nents. The rusted screws on the plastic frame of the
pH, up to 7.0, algae will grow. The pH of 7.2 is the most fresh-water inlet, a nut, a spring washer and a bolt from
comfortable for swimmers; however, having a pH of 7.2 the vertical stairs were removed and investigated.
chlorine is only 50-% effective and so a free-chlorine An individual stair was fixed with a plastic inlet and a
level should be increased to a minimum of 0.6 μg/g. The bolt on the vertical stair-holder tube. The rust was spread
pH range of the pool water should be kept between 6.8 around the bolted connection (Figure 2), while no rust
and 8 8. was observed around the direct contact of a longer bolt
The latest research on super-chlorination revealed and the step holder. The removal of the step showed that
that the process is effective only for eliminating inor- the rust originated in the joint of the spring washer and
ganic, ammonia-based chloramines. It was established the nut. The rust was concentrated around the spring
that large doses of free chlorine react with organic con- washer, below the nut and spread around the bolted
taminants and form a variety of disinfectants that are joints. The spring washer was heavily corroded.
hazardous to the swimmers’ health9. A photograph of the rusted nut, the washer and the
A new indoor basin with marine water was in opera- cross-head screw was taken (Figure 3) before further
tion for about six months. After that period traces of rust cleaning and the rust was removed from all the investi-
appeared around the screws and bolts, on all the surfaces gated samples in an ultrasound bath (Figure 4).
of the equipment and on the stainless-steel decorative el- The surfaces damaged with the corrosion were exam-
ements. The pillars holding the roof of the hall were dec- ined with scanning electron microscopy (SEM) Jeol
orated with vertical polished stainless-steel strips. The
surface was covered with numerous speckles of rust, eas-

Figure 2: Rust on the vertical holder around the bolted-step

Figure 1: Rusted cross-head screws at the bottom of the pool connection
Slika 1: Rjasti vijaki s kri`no glavo z dna bazena Slika 2: Rja na vertikalnem nosilcu okrog vija~enega spoja stopnice

424 Materiali in tehnologije / Materials and technology 46 (2012) 4, 423–427

 M. TORKAR et al.: CREVICE CORROSION OF STAINLESS-STEEL FASTENING COMPONENTS ...

Figure 3: A nut, a spring washer, a structural bolt of the stairs and a

cross-head screw, all cowered with rust Figure 5: Screw damaged by crevice corrosion (SEM)
Slika 3: Matica, vzmetna podlo`ka, vijak stopnice in vijak s kri`no Slika 5: Vijak, po{kodovan s {pranjsko korozijo (SEM)
glavo, vsi pokriti z rjo

Figure 4: Corrosion-damaged structural components after cleaning Figure 6: Detail from Figure 5: Crevice corrosion of a screw head
with ultrasound (SEM)
Slika 4: S korozijo prizadeti konstrukcijski elementi po ~i{~enju z Slika 6: Detajl s slike 5: {pranjska korozija glave vijaka (SEM)
ultrazvokom

JSM-6500F having a field-emission gun and analysed

with energy dispersive X-ray spectroscopy (EDS).

3 RESULTS AND DISCUSSION

Inside the screw head we observed dip caverns (Fig-

ure 5 and 6) resulting from crevice corrosion. The basic
conditions for the start of crevice corrosion are a wet en-
vironment with chlorides and a narrow crevice where a
renewal of a damaged protective oxide layer on stainless
steel is not possible due to the restricted oxygen diffu-
sion in the crevice. Chloride ions from the salt water mi-
grate into the crevice and increase the solution acidity
accelerating the corrosion attack on the protective layer
on the stainless-steel surface. The results of crevice cor- Figure 7: Corroded screw (SEM)
rosion are either deep corrosion caverns, as observed in Slika 7: S korozijo po{kodovan vijak (SEM)

Materiali in tehnologije / Materials and technology 46 (2012) 4, 423–427 425

M. TORKAR et al.: CREVICE CORROSION OF STAINLESS-STEEL FASTENING COMPONENTS ...

corrosion10,11 due to geometrical reasons (the presence of

a crevice) or stress corrosion12 due to internal stresses in
deformation-induced martensite of cold deformed steel.
In the examined case it is supposed that the first cause
prevailed because of the presence of corrosion caverns in
the spring washer.
The nut was from austenitic stainless steel, it was
non-magnetic and after the removal of the rust the shal-
low pits were observed on the surface only. Comparing
the corrosion damages on the nut and the spring washer,
it looks that most of the rust originated from the spring
washer.
The rust from the spring washer was spread also on
the bolt and the bolt surface was coloured by the rust. No
corrosion damages were observed on the bolt surface af-
ter being cleaned in the ultrasound bath.
Figure 8: Crevice corrosion of a spring washer (SEM) An EDS analysis confirmed that the nut and the
Slika 8: [pranjska korozija vzmetne podlo`ke (SEM) spring washer were made of austenitic stainless steel
AISI 316 with 2 % to 3 % of molybdenum added to in-
crease the corrosion resistance of stainless steel in a
the screw head, or shallow pits, as observed on the screw
chloride environment.
body (Figure 7).
Corrosion caverns were also observed in the spring The cross-head screw from the bottom of the basin
did not contain molybdenum and was, thus, made of
washer (Figure 8, 9), taken from the connection step of
AISI 304 austenitic stainless steel that is less corrosion
the vertical holder. A test of the spring washer with a
resistant in a chloride environment.
magnet revealed slight magnetism in the cold-formed
spring washer, probably due to the presence of Stainless-steel components are usually corrosion pro-
deformation-induced martensite in the washer. This tected with sacrificing electrodes made of Mg or Zn al-
martensite in the austenitic stainless steel is magnetic loys. An in-situ control revealed that the sacrificing elec-
and has a lower resistance to corrosion9. Deformation- trodes that were dissolved had neither been periodically
induced martensite can be transformed back to austenite checked nor replaced. For this reason, the austenitic
by heating at the temperature of 1 050 °C and by water stainless-steel stairs and fences were more serious at-
rapid cooling. In the examined case, the spring washer tacked by corrosion.
was in the cold deformed state to keep the spring
properties and for this reason the spring washer was the
most sensitive component to corrosion. In general, there 4 CONCLUSIONS
are two possible causes for the corrosion of a spring
washer in a chloride environment: either crevice
Examinations revealed that after six months of the
operation, severe corrosion damages appeared on all the
stainless-steel components in the hall and in the basin
with marine water.
Decorative bands, fences, the steps of vertical stairs
and other austenitic stainless-steel components were
damaged either by pitting or by crevice corrosion.
The spring washers and nuts were the most sensitive
structural elements to corrode in the examined chloride
environment.
The super-chlorination performed twice over a short
period additionally increased the corrosion processes
within the basin and the basin hall.
The corrosion processes due to chloride ions can be
reduced with frequent cleaning of all stainless-steel com-
ponents with clear water and timely replacements of the
sacrificial anodes.
Figure 9: Remains of NaCl around a crevice-corrosion cavern (SEM) For the bathers’ safety sake, all the vital joint connec-
Slika 9: Ostanki NaCl okrog izjede, povzro~ene s {pranjsko korozijo tions in the vertical stairs need to be checked periodically
(SEM) and, if necessary, replaced in time.

426 Materiali in tehnologije / Materials and technology 46 (2012) 4, 423–427

 M. TORKAR et al.: CREVICE CORROSION OF STAINLESS-STEEL FASTENING COMPONENTS ...

7
5 REFERENCES D. Cassan, B. Mercier, F. Castex, A. Rambaud, Effects of medium-
pressure UV lamps radiation on water quality in a chlorinated indoor
1
D. R. Johns, K. Shemwell, The crevice corrosion and stress corrosion swimming pool, Chemosphere, 62 (2006) 9, 1507–1513
cracking resistance of austenitic and duplex stainless steel fasteners, 8
P. Sêdek, J. Brózda, J. Gazdowicz, Pitting corrosion of the stainless
Corrosion Science, 39 (1997) 3, 473–480 steel ventilation duct in a roofed swimming pool, Engineering
2
C. R. Gagg, P. R. Lewis, Environmentally assisted product failure – Failure Analysis, 15 (2008) 4, 281–286
Synopsis and case study compendium, Engineering Failure Analysis, 9
S. Weeb, Superchlorination — The Shocking Truth, May 10, 2011,
15 (2008) 5, 505–520 http://aquamagazine.com
3
L. F. Yee, Md. P. Abdullah, S. Ata, A. Abdullah, B. Ishak, K. 10
M. Torkar, Corrosion of AISI 316 Ti in 50 % KOH due to defor-
Nidzham, Chlorination and Chloramines Formation, The Malaysian mation induced martensite, Engineering Failure Analysis, 13 (2006)
Journal of Analytical Sciences, 12 (2008) 3, 528–535 4, 624–628
4
W. Lee, P. Westerhoff, Formation of organic chloramines during 11
P. T. Jakobsen, E. Maahn, Temperature and potential dependence of
water disinfection – chlorination versus chloramination, Water
crevice corrosion of AISI 316 stainless steel, Corrosion Science, 43
Research, 43 (2009) 8, 2233–2239
5 (2001) 9, 1693–1709
C. Shang, W. Gong, E. R. Blatchley, Breakpoint Chemistry and 12
B. Cai, Y. Liu, X. Tian, F. Wang, H. Li, R. Ji, An experimental study
Volatile Byproduct Formation Resulting from Chlorination of Model
of crevice corrosion behaviour of 316L stainless steel in artificial
Organic-N Compounds, Environ. Sci. Technol., 34 (2000) 9,
1721–1728 seawater, Corrosion Science, 52 (2010) 10, 3235–3242
6
Applications of environmental aquatic chemisty: a practical guide,
Eugene R. Weiner, CRC Press, Taylor@Francis Group, 2008

Materiali in tehnologije / Materials and technology 46 (2012) 4, 423–427 427