Published online by Cambridge University Press: 19 October 2011
In general, the susceptibility of Alloy 22 to suffer crevice corrosion is measured using the Cyclic Potentiodynamic Polarization (CPP) technique. This is a fast technique that gives rather accurate and reproducible values of repassivation potential (ER1) in most cases. In the fringes of susceptibility, when the environment is not highly aggressive, the values of repassivation potential using the CPP technique may not be highly reproducible, especially because the technique is fast and because transpassive corrosion may influence or mask the nucleation and propagation of crevice corrosion. To circumvent this, the repassivation potential of Alloy 22 was measured using a slower method that combines Potentiodynamic-Galvanostatic-Potentiostatic steps (called here the Tsujikawa-Hisamatsu Electrochemical or THE method). The THE method applies the charge to the specimen in a more controlled way, which may give more reproducible repassivation potential values, especially when the environment is not aggressive. The values of repassivation potential of Alloy 22 in sodium chloride plus potassium nitrate solutions were measured using the THE and CPP methods. Results show that both methods yield similar values of repassivation potential, especially under aggressive conditions.