Summary for pitting corrosion on stainless steel Discussion
Need to create pitting corrosion on stainless steel is the core question here: Todd Turner, who has decades of passivation and rust-removal experience, asks how to deliberately produce deeply pitted, rusty 300 series stainless steel for R&D. He suggests possible starting points such as mild steel contact, welding heat-affected zones, and grinding sparks, then exposing coupons in a DIY salt cabinet long enough for pits to establish. He also recalls a metallurgist mentioning an electrolytic method and wants to refresh that idea. The thread excerpt provided contains only the question and no posted answers, so there is no consensus method or timing given in the source. The practical takeaway is that the discussion is about ways to initiate and accelerate pitting on stainless, but the excerpt does not supply a confirmed procedure or duration.
Q. I’ve been involved in passivation of 300 series stainless steel for 35 years. For 33 of those, I’ve worked on removing rust from stainless steel damaged by pitting corrosion. I need to “create” some deeply rusty stainless steel for R&D.
Any suggestions? I’ve thought of damaging the metal with mild steel contact, welding HAZ and mild steel grinding sparks. Then put the sample coupon in a DIY salt cabinet. But for how long to get the pits established.
A metallurgist also mentioned an electrolytic method. I need to refresh my memory on his suggestion.
Todd Turner
Industrial Cleaning – Monroe, Louisiana
November 21, 2024