Electrochemical corrosion response of a precipitation hardening moulds steel in a NaCl solution

Investigations concerning the electrochemical corrosion behavior of mould steels are scarce and limited. In the present study, the corrosion resistance of a precipitation hardening moulds steel submitted to aging treatments has been assessed in a 0.1 M NaCl aqueous solution by means of potentiodynamic polarization and electrochemical impedance spectroscopy measurements. The electrochemical characterization of the steel not submitted to hardening treatments was also examined and a comparative study was made between the different specimens. Scanning electron microscopy and electron probe microanalysis were used to obtain information about the morphology and chemical composition of the steels surface after the electrochemical tests. Increasing the aging temperature an increase of secondary hardness is observed, attributable to an increase of secondary phases (re‐precipitated carbides and metastable GP zones) amount, positively reflecting on the mechanical properties. However, the electrochemical results show a progressive worsening of the corrosion behavior, the as‐received steel sample exhibiting the best corrosion resistance. The observed decrease of corrosion resistance with increasing the aging temperature is ascribed to enhanced galvanic coupling phenomena between the secondary phases, acting as cathodes, and the surrounding matrix which, consequently, experiences preferential dissolution.