Effect of metallurgical development on the corrosion of carbon and low-alloy construction steels for ship building and harbour construction

The corrosion behaviour of continuous cast low-alloy steels is discussed and compared with that of ingot cast steels. There is no evidence for any influence of the casting technique on the resistance of these steels to either general attack or pitting corrosion in neutral, aqueous solutions. Disadvantages and failures of high-strength low-alloy steels described in the literature, e.g. localized corrosion at welds, pitting corrosion, stress corrosion cracking and difficulties in hot-dip galvanizing, which are considered to be related to the casting technique, are discussed and explained in terms of the actual knowledge and principle rules of the corrosion behaviour of steels.