Study on Corrosion Damage Behavior of 300M Ultra-high Strength Steel in Marine Atmospheric Environment

Abstract The marine atmospheric environment exposure test of 300M ultra-high strength steel was carried out at Hainan test station. The corrosion damage behavior of 300M ultra-high strength steel in marine atmospheric environment was studied by macroscopic and microscopic corrosion morphology, tensile properties and stress corrosion. The results show that the comprehensive corrosion behavior of 300M ultra-high strength steel occurred in the marine atmospheric environment. The color of the corrosion products changed from red to reddish brown, dark brown and black, and the maximum corrosion depth in the three years was 400μm. The corrosion had a significant effect on the tensile properties during the test. The tensile strength and elongation of 300M ultra-high strength steel decreased by 13.3 % and 81.8 %, respectively, which indicated that the effect of corrosion on the plasticity of the material was much greater than that on the tensile strength. Corrosion also caused a decrease in fracture toughness, and the fracture toughness of 300M ultra-high strength steel decreased by 26% in 2 years. The results of stress corrosion show that the crack propagation of 300M ultra-high strength steel is very rapid in the initial stage of marine atmospheric environment test, and the crack propagation length reaches 10.836mm in 7 days. The stress corrosion threshold K ISCC of 300M ultra-high strength steel is 24.48MPa•m 1/2 , and the relative index of stress corrosion cracking sensitivity is 0.31, which indicates that 300M ultra-high strength steel is very sensitive to stress corrosion in marine atmospheric environment. The results show that 300M ultra-high strength steel has poor adaptability to the marine environment. Therefore, it is necessary to adopt excellent surface treatment process and spray aging resistant coating to effectively protect 300M ultra-high strength steel to ensure its long-term reliable use in the marine environment.