Corrosion Monitoring of the Active/Passive/Transpassive State of a High-Alloy CrMnNi Steel by Means of Acoustic Emissions

The corrosion behaviour of a high-alloy CrMnNi steel was investigated electrochemically in a 0.5 M sulphuric acid solution. The characteristic regions of the active, passive and transpassive state for the material were monitored by means of acoustic emissions. To this end, the steel was potentiostatically polarised and the acoustic emission signal was recorded on the specimen’s surface at a distance of 5 cm from the location of corrosion. Analysis of the acoustic emission signals revealed an increase in signal intensity due to hydrogen bubble formation when the material was cathodically polarised. Furthermore, for anodic polarisation, a continuous decline in the signal-time correlation occurred when the material was polarised in the active/passive state, whereas a sharp point of inflexion and drastic reduction in intensity was recognised when the material was polarised in the passive state. Moreover, a further increase in signal intensity was observed when the transpassive state was reached. The increase at transpassivity was related to the onset of oxygen bubble formation at the electrode.