Characterisation of titanium alloy, IMI-834 for corrosion resistance under different environmental conditions

The current paper explains the corrosion characteristics of the titanium alloy, IMI-834 in three different environments which simulates acidic, marine and industrial environments at various temperatures. The titaniurn alloy forms a protective oxide scale under different environmental conditions at lower temperatures. However, they do not form a protective oxide scale at higher temperatures. The corrosion rate in different environments and at different temperatures increases by about five times in acidic and industrial environments when the temperature increases by a factor of 2. While in marine environments, the corrosion rate was found to increase by two times when the temperature increases by two times. The pitting corrosion studies in different environments revealed that the alloy is resistant to pitting and crevice corrosion at lower temperatures but is susceptible at higher temperatures. The corrosion morphologies were correlated and the degradation mechanism that is leading the titanium alloy to fail under various environmental conditions was discussed. Finally, based on the results obtained with different techniques, the alloy was recommended to fabricate components intended to use in a variety of environmental conditions. (C) 2004 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.