Corrosion Evaluation of Ferritic Stainless Steels for Automotive Exhaust Applications

This study compares the localized (exterior) corrosion susceptibility of chromized steel to bench-mark ferritic stainless steels for automotive exhaust applications. Continuous near-neutral salt fog exposure (ASTM B117) was used for this purpose. Corrosion susceptibility was determined using mass loss measurements coupled with a post exposure metallographic examination. Complementary potentiodynamic polarization measurements were made in the bulk salt solution to help interpret the relative performance. The elevated Cr content provided by the chromizing surface treatment provides comparable corrosion resistance to the more highly alloyed ferritic stainless steels studied. The major factor affecting localized corrosion susceptibility is the formation of rust deposits, which act as effective pit-like corrosion initiation sites.