Effect of Single Particle High-Speed Impingement on the Electrochemical Step Characteristics of a Stainless-Steel Surface

In the process of particle erosion and electrochemical corrosion interaction, the electrolyte flow state change, product film destruction, and matrix structure change caused by particle impact affect the electrochemical corrosion process. Such transient, complex physical and electrochemical changes are difficult to capture because of the short duration of action and the small collision area. The peak, step time, and recovery time in this transient step cycle can indirectly reflect the smoothness and reaction rate of the electrochemical reaction system, and thus characterize the resistance to scouring corrosion coupling damage of metals in liquid–solid two-phase flow. In this study, in order to obtain the electrochemical response at the moment of particle impact, electrochemical monitoring experiments using a specially designed miniature three-electrode system were used to test step-critical values, including step potential, current, and resistance, among others. Meanwhile, an electrochemical step model under particle impact considering boundary layer perturbation was developed. The experimental results reflect the effect law of particle impact velocity and particle size on the peak step and recovery period. Meanwhile, the effect of particle impingement on the electrochemical step of stainless steel in different electrolyte solutions was obtained by comparing the step curves in distilled water and Cl-containing water. The connection between the parameters in the electrochemical step model and in the particle impact, as well as the effect of the variation of these parameters on the surface repassivation process are discussed in this paper. By fitting and modeling the test curves, a new mathematical model of electrochemical step-decay under single-particle impact was obtained, which can be used to characterize the change pattern of electrochemical parameters on the metal surface before and after the impingement.