Repassivation kinetics studies on an austenitic stainless steel in chloride media

A new technique consisting in scratching an electrode kept under a constant load has been developed to study the initial stages of repassivation (10–100 ms) of an austenitic stainless steel in various media (sulphate and chloride) following the rupture of the protective film. S.c.c. criteria have been proposed and particularly a critical potential called transition potential, E_trans. The charge densities passed during repassivation have been measured and the transition between pitting corrosion and stress corrosion cracking in chloride media is also discussed.