Localized corrosion of copper alloys in China seawater for 16 years
(General Research Institute for Nonferrous Metals, Beijing 100088, China)
Abstract: The regulation of localized corrosion of 2 kinds of copper and 17 kinds of copper alloys exposed in seawater of Qingdao, Zhoushan, Yulin and Xiamen for 16 years has been studied. Results show that during immersion copper alloys suffer from pitting corrosion due to high temperature and marine living adhesion at Yulin, and to the higher velocity of seawater containing sand at Zhoushan. However, the seawater of Xiamen inhibits the pitting corrosion of copper alloys. No pitting corrosion is observed on copper alloy plates tested there. The copper alloys suffer from more serious pitting corrosion in the tide zone than that in the immersion zone at Qingdao after long time exposure.
Key words: copper alloy; seawater exposure; pitting corrosion