Dear colleagues,
As stated by Prof. Macdonald, “Humankind has been able to develop a metals-based civilization primarily because the reactive metals (Fe, Ni, Cr, Al, Ti, Zr, etc.) exhibit extraordinary kinetic stabilities in oxidizing environments.” [1] However, the so-called passive metals and corrosion resistant alloys are susceptible to localized attack in the form of, for example, pitting and crevice corrosion, when exposed to certain environments, often containing anions of strong acids such as chlorides and bromides. Moreover, many authors have postulated that pitting corrosion is a prerequisite for environmentally-assisted cracking mechanisms such as stress corrosion cracking and sulfide stress cracking. [2]
Localized corrosion is one of the most pervasive forms of attack impacting virtually all engineering metals and alloys that derive their resistance from the spontaneous development of a passive layer. Localized corrosion remains as a recurrent, costly, and difficult-to-detect phenomenon affecting a range of materials—to mention a few examples—from the plenitude of stainless steels, to nickel-based alloys, and non-ferrous systems based on, for example, aluminum, titanium, and zirconium. Localized corrosion is commonplace in diverse industry segments such as the resources, power, aerospace, water, maritime, and biomedical sectors.
Image credits Erik Haugan.
In the last couple of years, there has been a revived interest, primarily as a result of the joint efforts of Li, Frankel, Scully, and collaborators, in fundamental research aimed at linking the various critical factors and models that consider both passive film breakdown and pit stabilization. [3] Nevertheless, there are still crucial aspects of the problem, especially around the critical localized corrosion temperatures and induction times, that are yet to be understood. Presently, simple, yet foundational engineering questions, such as “what is the maximum allowable service temperature to minimize localized corrosion risks?”, or, “if a metal or alloy is exposed to an environment known to cause localized corrosion (e.g., some stainless steels in natural seawater), how long does an operator have before localized corrosion starts?”, cannot be answered.
Our goals for the Special Issue
The goal of this Special Issue is to present state-of-the-art research on passivity and localized corrosion phenomena, with emphasis on the interplay between microstructure and performance. Research linking localized and mechanically assisted corrosion (e.g., stress corrosion cracking, fretting corrosion, etc.) is also encouraged. We welcome original research articles, theoretical and modeling studies, historical failure investigations, and review papers aimed at pushing the frontiers of corrosion science and engineering. Articles focused on issues affecting the oil and gas, mining, nuclear, defense, automotive, infrastructure, and biomedical industries are of particular interest.
Important dates
Deadline for manuscript submissions: 31 October 2020
How to submit your manuscript
Manuscripts should be submitted online at www.mdpi.com by registering and logging in to this website. Once you are registered, click here to go to the submission form. Manuscripts can be submitted until the deadline. All papers will be peer-reviewed. Accepted papers will be published continuously in the journal (as soon as accepted) and will be listed together on the special issue website. Research articles, review articles as well as short communications are invited. For planned papers, a title and short abstract (about 100 words) can be sent to the Editorial Office for announcement on this website.
For more information visit the Metals Journal Localized Corrosion of Metals and Alloys website.
References
- Macdonald, D.D. Passivity—The key to our metals-based civilization. Pure Appl. Chem. 1999, 71, 951–978.
- Iannuzzi, M.; Barnoush, A.; Johnsen, R. Materials and corrosion trends in offshore and subsea oil and gas production. npj Mater. Degrad. 2017, 1, 1–11.
- Frankel, G.S.; Li, T.; Scully, J.R. Perspective—Localized corrosion: passive film breakdown vs pit growth stability. Electrochem. Soc. 2017, 164, C180–C181
