Quantitative phase-field model to simulate low carbon steel aqueous corrosion phenomena

A quantitative phase-field model has been developed to simulate aqueous corrosion on low carbon steel under chloride-based electrolytes at different pHs. All relevant transport phenomena are included through physically interpretable variables. In particular, both diffusion and migration charge transport are modelled. Separated electrical potentials for the electrolyte and the metal are considered, and physically meaningful boundary conditions are provided. Using this model, different polarization conditions can be predicted and many parameters not observable/challenging during experiments, can be obtained. Finally, since the proposed model includes different time scales, a segregated numerical integration algorithm is proposed to speed up simulations.