A new experiment was conducted to determine the corrosion rates of different geometric structures (vertical plate, horizontal plate, cube, and sphere) with the same surface area of pure magnesium in a saltwater immersion environment of 3.5% NaCl for 108 h, illustrating a clear geometry effect arising from local boundary layer water flow. Magnesium was chosen as an idealized material because of its small electrochemical potential. The different corrosion mechanisms were analyzed and quantified by measuring the surface roughness (localized corrosion) via laser profilometry, mass loss (general corrosion) by weighing specimens, localized and intergranular corrosion via Scanning Electron Microscopy and Optical Microscopy, and total corrosion via hydrogen measurements. Although the corrosion rates were very similar at the beginning of the tests, the vertical and horizontal plates gave corrosion rates greater than the cube and sphere shortly after the tests started. Water circulation induced by hydrogen gas bubbles caused a greater corrosion rate at the edges of the plates and cube. These results indicate that a structure’s geometric edges should be made smoother to lessen corrosion effects in design. Also, when one is designing for corrosion resistance of a structural component, our results demonstrate that the designer must consider the fluid dynamics in the boundary value problem surrounding the structural component, since the geometric shape changes the corrosion rate.

An investigation into the general and pitting corrosion rates of rolled homogeneous armour (RHA) steel in immersion and salt-fog environments is presented. Although the mechanical properties of RHA steel have been studied, the corrosion effects on RHA steel have not been quantified. An immersion environment of 3.5% NaCl was used to induce corrosion for four immersion samples. A Q-fog corrosion tester was used to simulate a salt-fog/humidity/drying environment for four salt-fog samples. The different mechanisms of corrosion and their rates were quantified through mass loss, laser profilometry and scanning electron microscopy. The immersion samples show a linear rate of corrosion of 1.47 g/year (R² = 0.994) throughout the entire testing period. The salt-fog samples had a significant mass gain for the first 500 h of corrosion, as the corrosion products are retained. Immersion samples showed no signs of pitting, while the salt-fog samples had sustained pit nucleation, growth, and coalescence.