skip to main content
OSTI.GOV title logo U.S. Department of Energy
Office of Scientific and Technical Information

Title: High-Performance Corrosion-Resistant Iron-Based Amorphous Metals: The Effects of Composition, Structure and Environment on Corrosion Resistance

Journal Article · · Journal of Materials Research

New corrosion-resistant, iron-based amorphous metals have been identified from published data or developed through combinatorial synthesis, and tested to determine their relative thermal phase stability, microstructure, mechanical properties, damage tolerance, and corrosion resistance. Some alloy additions are known to promote glass formation and to lower the critical cooling rate [F. Guo, S. J. Poon, Applied Physics Letters, 83 (13) 2575-2577, 2003]. Other elements are known to enhance the corrosion resistance of conventional stainless steels and nickel-based alloys [A. I. Asphahani, Materials Performance, Vol. 19, No. 12, pp. 33-43, 1980] and have been found to provide similar benefits to iron-based amorphous metals. Many of these materials can be cast as relatively thick ingots, or applied as coatings with advanced thermal spray technology. A wide variety of thermal spray processes have been developed by industry, and can be used to apply these new materials as coatings. Any of these can be used for the deposition of the formulations discussed here, with varying degrees of residual porosity and crystalline structure. Thick protective coatings have now been made that are fully dense and completely amorphous in the as-sprayed condition. An overview of the High-Performance Corrosion Resistant Materials (HPCRM) Project will be given, with particular emphasis on the corrosion resistance of several different types of iron-based amorphous metals in various environments of interest. The salt fog test has been used to compare the performance of various wrought alloys, melt-spun ribbons, arc-melted drop-cast ingots, and thermal-spray coatings for their susceptibility to corrosion in marine environments. Electrochemical tests have also been performed in seawater. Spontaneous breakdown of the passive film and localized corrosion require that the open-circuit corrosion potential exceed the critical potential. The resistance to localized corrosion is seawater has been quantified through measurement of the open-circuit corrosion potential (E{sub corr}), the breakdown potential (E{sub crit}) and the repassivation potential (E{sub rp}). The greater the difference between the open-circuit corrosion potential and the repassivation potential ({Delta}E), the more resistant a material is to modes of localized corrosion such as pitting and crevice corrosion. Cyclic polarization (CP) was used as a means of measuring the critical potential (E{sub crit}) relative to the open-circuit corrosion potential (E{sub corr}). Linear polarization (LP) has been used to determine the corrosion current (i{sub corr}) and the corresponding corrosion rate. Other aspects of the materials will also be discussed, as well as potential applications.

Research Organization:
Lawrence Livermore National Lab. (LLNL), Livermore, CA (United States)
Sponsoring Organization:
USDOE
DOE Contract Number:
W-7405-ENG-48
OSTI ID:
1010404
Report Number(s):
UCRL-JRNL-220517; TRN: US201107%%147
Journal Information:
Journal of Materials Research, Vol. 22, Issue 8; ISSN 0884-2914
Country of Publication:
United States
Language:
English

References (8)

Role of yttrium in glass formation of Fe-based bulk metallic glasses journal September 2003
Synthesis of Fe–Cr–Mo–C–B–P bulk metallic glasses with high corrosion resistance journal February 2002
Evaluation of the electrochemical behavior of HVOF-sprayed alloy coatings journal January 2004
Chemical short-range order in dense random-packed models journal June 1988
Fe-based bulk metallic glasses with diameter thickness larger than one centimeter journal May 2004
Effects of Chromium on the Glass Formation and Corrosion Behavior of Bulk Glassy Fe-Cr-Mo-C-B Alloys journal January 2002
Characterization of plasma sprayed Fe-10Cr-10Mo-(C,B) amorphous coatings journal June 1996
Metallic glass ingots based on yttrium journal September 2003