Corrosion in Stainless Steels

Owing to the passivation abilities, stainless steels are used as primary structural materials to defend corrosion in many natural (e.g. atmospheric, soil and aqueous) and industrial (e.g. energy, construction, transportation) environments. With the wide applications of stainless steels, their service environments are increasingly diversified, and the corrosion problems they face are becoming more serious and complicated. The corrosion resistance of a stainless steel depends on the nature of the passive film, whose growth and degradation are critically influenced by the microstructures and the alloying elements of the steel and are dynamic processes dependent of environments such as temperature, ions and stress. The heterogeneities in the passive film are the origins that make the corrosion resistance of the stainless steels threatened by local corrosion such as pitting, intergranular corrosion and stress corrosion. To enhance the corrosion resistance, continuous efforts have been made on the metallurgical strategies such as alloying and thermomechanical processing as well as surface physical and chemical treatments to optimize the microstructural and compositional properties. The recent advances in localized electrochemical and surface analytical tools also allow us to better examine the stainless-steel surface in micro- and even nanoscales and more fundamentally understand the pit inhibition and growth mechanisms.

This Research Topic cover corrosion mechanisms, surface characterization and corrosion protection in the corrosion process of stainless steels and the development of new stainless steels and their insertion in new applications. Contributions are welcomed on the following topics, including but not limited to:

• The influence of alloying elements
• The influence of microstructures
• The influence of thermomechanical processing
• The influence of surface treatments
• Stress corrosion and hydrogen induced cracking
• Corrosion of weld joint
• Additively manufactured stainless steels
• Microbiologically influenced corrosion
• Corrosion inhibitors
• Local electrochemical technique
• Advanced surface characterization
• Modeling and simulation