A method to predict pitting corrosion of stainless steels in evaporative conditions

Stainless steels are used in architecture and building because of their good corrosion resistance and visual appearance. Despite all precautions localised corrosion has caused unexpected material failures in environments which should be harmless. These failures are associated to surface contamination with corrosive salt solutions that are formed when splash water concentrates due to evaporation. This paper reports on studies carried out to investigate the localised corrosion risk of stainless steels in concentrated salt solutions. A quantitative corrosion risk prediction approach based on the experimental corrosion studies and quantitative pitting corrosion models developed for evaluation of pitting corrosion risk are presented.