Effects of alternating current on corrosion of a coated pipeline steel in a chloride-containing carbonate/bicarbonate solution

Abstract In this work, the alternating current (AC)-induced corrosion of a coated pipeline steel was studied in a chloride-containing, concentrated carbonate/bicarbonate solution, which simulated the trapped high pH electrolyte under coating, by potentiodynamic polarization measurements, immersion tests and surface characterization technique. It was found that an application of AC resulted in a negative shift of corrosion potential of the steel, caused an oscillation of anodic current density, and degraded the steel passivity developed in the solution. With the increase of AC current density, the corrosion rate of the steel increased. At a low AC current density, a uniform corrosion occurred, while at a high AC current density, pitting corrosion occurred extensively on the steel electrode surface. At individual applied AC, there was a higher electrochemical dissolution activity of the coated steel electrode containing a 1 mm defect than that of the electrode containing a 10 mm defect.