Effects of cathodic protection on corrosive wear of 304 stainless steel

Corrosive wear involves interaction of electrochemical and mechanical processes. The synergism of these two processes often results in significant material loss, compared to those caused by individual processes. Reduction of either corrosion or wear may effectively decrease material loss under certain circumstances. Since cathodic protection can reduce corrosion of metallic materials, it may also diminish corrosive wear if the corrosion process is suppressed. However, under a cathodic potential (potentiostatic condition) or enforced current (galvanosatic condition), properties of a material could be affected and thus its corrosive wear behavior could be different from what is expected. The present research demonstrated that cathodic protection under potentiostatic condition was beneficial under low wearing force but it became ineffective under higher wearing forces or more negative cathodic potentials. Hydrogen embrittlement could be responsible for this change.