Marked changes in temperature, pH, dissolved oxygen (DO) content, and nutrient content typically occur in marine thermoclines, which are key factors that affect the corrosion of metals. Offshore platforms require marine metals to be exposed to deep-sea environments and thus increase their penetration into the marine thermocline. This study investigates the galvanic corrosion of E690 steel in a marine thermocline using a simulated marine thermocline (SMT). Specifically, the corrosion of E690 steel was analyzed using the wire beam electrode (WBE) technique, linear polarization (LP), corrosion morphology, and weight loss measurement. Results indicated that the SMT had a stable multilayer structure, and the variations in temperature, DO, pH, and nutrient concentration in the SMT were similar to those in the natural marine thermocline. There were two forms of E690 steel corrosion in the SMT: galvanic corrosion and seawater corrosion. The corrosion rate of seawater corrosion was influenced by the DO concentration. Galvanic corrosion occurred after the intrusion of E690 steel into the marine thermocline. The driver of galvanic corrosion was the difference values for E_corrs of E690 steel at various depths of the marine thermocline. The E_corr of E690 steel was influenced by the temperature, pH, and DO of the seawater, in the following order: DO >> T > pH. The continuous reduction in E_corr with depth contributed to large-scale galvanic corrosion, and the oscillation variation in E_corr with depth was the reason for small-scale galvanic corrosion. The primary anodic regions of galvanic corrosion were located in the area with the fastest temperature variation in the thermocline, and the position of the anodic regions rose with time. The anodic regions gradually expanded with time. The proportion of galvanic corrosion in the average corrosion rate could increase up to approximately 80% in the stable anodic region. There were many hemispherical corrosion pits on the surface of the single electrodes that were at the depths of 75 cm, 105 cm, and 135 cm. These single electrodes comprised a long-term, sustainable anodic region of galvanic corrosion.

Steel reinforcement in marine concrete structures is vulnerable to chloride-induced corrosion, which compromises its structural integrity and durability. This study explores the combined effect of the alloying element Cr and the smart corrosion inhibitor LDH-NO₂ on enhancing the corrosion resistance of steel reinforcement. Employing a machine learning approach with a support vector machine (SVM) algorithm, a predictive model was developed to estimate the polarization resistance of steel, considering Cr content, LDH-NO₂ dosage, environmental pH, and chloride concentration. The model was rigorously trained and validated, demonstrating high accuracy, with a correlation coefficient exceeding 0.85. The findings reveal that the addition of Cr and application of LDH-NO₂ synergistically improve corrosion resistance, with the model providing actionable insights for selecting effective corrosion protection methods in diverse concrete environments.

The microstructure evolution of Al_0.3FeCoNiCr_x (x = 0, 0.3, 0.5, 1, 1.5) high-entropy alloys (HEAs) were studied using X-Ray diffraction technique and scanning electron microscope equipped with energy dispersive spectrometer. The short-term and long-term corrosion behaviours of these alloys in 3.5 wt.% NaCl solution were studied by electrochemical impedance spectroscopy, potentiodynamic polarisation measurement, immersion test and corrosion morphology analysis. The results show that all the designed HEAs present single-phase FCC structure, and the increase in Cr content changes the microstructural morphology from cellular to a typical dendritic–interdendritic state. Without the influence of phase transformation, the corrosion resistance of Al_0.3FeCoNiCr_x HEAs gradually increases with the increase in Cr content. Our designed alloys exhibit excellent corrosion resistance compared to the existing HEAs in the AlFeCoNiCr composition system.

Marked changes in temperature, pH, dissolved oxygen (DO) content, and nutrient content typically occur in marine thermoclines, which are key factors that affect the corrosion of metals. Offshore platforms have required marine metals to be exposed to deep-sea environments and have thus increased their penetration into the marine thermocline. This study investigates the galvanic corrosion of E690 steel in a marine thermocline using a simulated marine thermocline (SMT). Specifically, the corrosion of E690 steel was analyzed using the wire beam electrode (WBE) technique, linear polarization (LP), corrosion morphology, and weight loss measurement. Results indicated that the SMT had a stable multilayer structure, and the variations of temperature, DO, pH and nutrient concentration in the SMT were similar to those in the natural marine thermocline. Galvanic corrosion occurred after the intrusion of E690 steel into the marine thermocline. The driver of galvanic corrosion was the of E690 steel at various depths of the marine thermocline. The Ecorr of E690 steel was influenced by the temperature, pH and DO of seawater, and the order was DO >> T > pH. The continuous reduction of Ecorr with depth contributed to the large-scale galvanic corrosion, and the oscillation variation of Ecorr with depth was the reason for small-scale galvanic corrosion. The primary anodic regions of galvanic corrosion were located in the area with the fastest temperature variation in the thermocline. The proportion of galvanic corrosion in the average corrosion rate could increase up to approximately 80% in the stable anodic region. There were many deep corrosion pits in the long-term and stable anodic region of galvanic corrosion.

In this study, the surface of steel was coated with a Mg-Al-pAB-LDH coating in order to enhance its corrosion resistance in the marine environment. The crystal structure, micro-morphology, and chemical composition of the Mg-Al-pAB-LDH coating were characterised using physicochemical techniques. The corrosion protection performance in a simulated marine environment was evaluated through electrochemical methods. The results indicate that the Mg-Al-pAB-LDH coating effectively adsorbs chloride ions from the environment, thereby increasing the corrosion potential of the steel in chloride environments and reducing its corrosion current density. In addition, the Mg-Al-pAB-LDH coating applied to the surface of steel not only enhances the corrosion resistance in the marine environment but also possesses self-healing capabilities in areas of local damage to the steel surface.

Chloride-induced corrosion of steel reinforcements is one of the main factors restricting the durability of reinforced concrete structures. Chromium (Cr) alloying is an effective strategy to enhance the corrosion resistance of steel. However, the appropriate Cr content for different environments remains undetermined. In this study, steels with three different Cr contents of 0, 5, and 10 wt.% were prepared. Electrochemical methods and physical characterization techniques were used to investigate the effects of Cr content on the passive film and corrosion behavior of steels in a simulated concrete pore solution under chloride attack. The results show that Cr alloying increases the critical chloride concentration for steel depassivation, passive film resistance, and charge transfer resistance. Specifically, the critical chloride concentrations of 0Cr, 5Cr, and 10Cr are 0.63, 0.81, and 1.56 mol/L, respectively. In a simulated pore solution with 0.6 mol/L chloride, the charge transfer resistances of 0Cr, 5Cr, and 10Cr are 4.1, 5.8, and 63.4 × 10⁵ Ω·cm², respectively, corresponding to corrosion rates that are 1.39- and 15.31-times lower for 5Cr and 10Cr relative to 0Cr. Therefore, in concrete exposed to marine chloride attacks, the use of high Cr alloying is necessary. Although the cost increases and the weldability deteriorates, the improvement in corrosion resistance is far superior to that of medium Cr alloying. The excellent corrosion resistance of high-Cr steel stems from its passive film mainly composed of stable Cr₂O₃ with a lower oxygen vacancy defect density, while that of 5Cr is dominated by less stable Cr(OH)₃, which weakens the corrosion resistance of the passive film.