Effect of the Metallurgical Parameters on the Relevant Electrochemical Criterion for Localized Corrosion Resistance of Stainless Steels

The effects of different metallurgical factors related to the steel making process of stainless steels on their pitting corrosion resistance are investigated from the double point of view of the pitting stages and of the relevance of the electrochemical criteria currently used to compare industrial steels together in view of material selection. It is concluded that alloying elements, impurities (sulfur), cold working process and final annealing may act on all the pitting stages from pit nucleation to pit stabilization. Counting the metastable pitting transients is a relevant technique in most cases, but using pitting potential as a single criterion of pitting resistance can be misleading in the more complex situations.