Synergy between erosion and corrosion of carbon steel in slurry

Erosion-corrosion is a serious problem in many industrial processes, especially in the oil sands industry because of the processing of silica solids in pipelines. Due to the coexistence of mechanical erosion and electrochemical corrosion, erosion-corrosion is a synergistic damage mechanism. In some conditions, the synergy is a very important wastage component. In order to reduce the erosion-corrosion cost, it is necessary to understand the mechanism.;The synergistic effect between erosion and corrosion of A1045 carbon steel in slurry was investigated. The mechanism of synergy was studied via chemo-mechanical effects under anodic polarization condition. The results indicate that the hardness degradation due to the chemo-mechanical effect is a synergistic mechanism in the slurry-erosion process. However, the values of the synergy estimated from hardness tests are lower than those experimentally determined. Surface analysis revealed that the main mechanism for the synergy is likely pitting corrosion.