Rare earth (RE) elements are beneficial to improving corrosion properties in low-carbon and low-alloy steels. In this paper, corrosion performance of Q235B steel and Q355B steel samples after RE alloying under wet-dry cycle immersion conditions were analyzed. Experimental results show that corrosion rate was significantly decreased. It was probably due to the grain refinement by RE alloying, which increased the density of protective rust layers and improved corrosion resistance. The formation of small-sized spherical RE inclusions also inhibited the precipitation of MnS and weakened micro galvanic corrosion. Additionally, RE atoms tended to segregate towards grain boundaries and a RE concentration region is formed between rust layers and matrix to impede the access from contacting corrosive ions. A corrosion resistance schematic of RE atom segregation was proposed based on microstructure morphology and element distribution results.

The synergistic effects of boron (B) and rare earth (RE) elements on the microstructure and stress rupture properties were investigated in a Ni-based superalloy. The stress rupture lifetime at 650 °C/873 MPa significantly increased with the addition of B as a single element. Furthermore, the stress rupture lifetime reached its peak (303 h), with a certain amount of B and RE added together in test alloys. Although the grain size and morphology of the γ′ phase varied a little with the change in B and RE addition, they were not considered to be the main reasons for stress rupture performance. The enhancement in stress rupture lifetime was mostly attributed to the segregation of the B and RE elements, which increased the binding force of the grain boundary and improved its strength and plasticity. In addition, the enrichment of B and RE inhabited the precipitation of carbides along grain boundaries. Furthermore, nano-scale RE precipitates containing sulfur (S) and phosphorus (P) were observed to be distributed along the grain boundaries. The purification of grain boundaries by B and RE elements was favorable to further improve the stress rupture properties.