The Corrosion of Some Stainless Steels in a Marine Mud

The report presents the results for three alloys: carbon steel, 316L stainless steel and a proprietary super duplex stainless steel (UNS S32760), exposed in a marine mud off the south coast of England for 5 years. Analysis of the mud showed it to be very aggressive using a corrosion index developed at the University of Manchester. Carbon steel showed a typical corrosion rate for microbial attack with pits up to 0.64mm deep. The 316L stainless steel had extensive broad, shallow attack with a few, deeper pits. The Z100 parent pipe and weldments showed no evidence of corrosion attack.