Crevice Corrosion Study of Materials for Propulsion Applications in the Marine Environment

The present work addresses crevice and galvanic corrosion processes occurring at the cylinder head gasket/cylinder head interface and cylinder head gasket/cylinder liner interface of four-stroke medium-speed diesel engines for marine applications. The contact between these systems and the marine environment can promote formation of demanding corrosion conditions, therefore influencing the lifetime of the engine components. The electrochemical behavior of various metals and alloys used as head gasket materials (both ferrous alloys and copper alloys) was investigated. The efficacy of corrosion inhibitors was determined by comparing electrochemical behavior with and without inhibitors. In particular, crevice corrosion has been investigated by electrochemical tests using an experimental set-up developed starting from the requirements of the ASTM G-192-08, with adaptation of the test to the conditions peculiar to this application. In addition to the crevice corrosion resistance, the possible problems of galvanic coupling, as well as corrosive reactivity, were evaluated using electrochemical tests, such as potentiodynamic measurements. It was possible to quantify, in several cases, the corrosion resistance of the various coupled materials, and in particular the resistance to crevice corrosion, providing a basis for the selection of materials for this specific application.