AQUEOUS CORROSION OF PLAIN CARBON-STEEL DURING SLIDING WEAR

The effects of the cojoint action of corrosion and sliding wear are found in many industrial applications; for example in the area of sucker rods and tubing in slant and directionally drilled oil wells. A prototype apparatus has been designed and built to simulate the cojoint action of corrosion and wear on sliding steel components. Sliding wear tests were conducted on AISI 1045 steel samples in a 10% NaCl aqueous solution. The samples were subjected to various loads to study the effect of contact pressure on the wear-corrosion process. A set of tests were also run under the same mechanical conditions but in the presence of potassium chromate to inhibit corrosion. The effect of the corrosion inhibitor was very pronounced in the case of samples representing sucker rods. The experimental results show a marked drop in the material loss rates of these samples. Optical and scanning electron microscopy was used to study the characteristics of wear scars on the samples after testing. An explanation for the role of corrosion in the sliding wear of the steel samples is presented.