Effects of Ultrasonic Amplitude on Electrochemical Properties During Cavitation of Carbon Steel in 3.5% NaCl Solution

Cavitation corrosion in many industrial plants has recently become a serious issue. Cavitation corrosion has generally been investigated using a vibratory method based on ASTM G32 standard, and the test can be divided into direct cavitation and indirect cavitation. Cavitation corrosion test uses the vibration frequency of the horn of 20 kHz with constant peak-to-peak displacement amplitude. In this work, the peak-to-peak amplitude was controlled from 15 μm to 85 μm, and electrochemical measurements were obtained during indirect cavitation. The relationship between cavitation corrosion rate and electrochemical properties was discussed. Corrosion steps of carbon steel at the initial stage under cavitation condition in 3.5 % NaCl can be proposed. When the cavitation strength is relatively low, corrosion of the steel is more affected by the electrochemical process than by the mechanical process; but when the cavitation strength is relatively high, corrosion of the steel is affected more by the mechanical process than by the electrochemical process. This work confirmed that the critical ultrasonic amplitude of 0.42 %C carbon steel is 53.8 μm, and when the amplitude is less than 53.8 μm, the corrosion effect during the cavitation corrosion process is higher than the mechanical effect.