Intergranular corrosion testing of austenitic stainless steels

In this study different standard intergranular corrosion (IC) test methods and new electrochemical potentiokinetic reactivation test method as well as anodic polarization and constant potential etching in perchloric acid solution have been used to clarify the IC attack morphology in various test environments. The microstructures of austenitic stainless steels were characterized before testing by transmission electron microscopy and Auger electron spectroscopy and after testing by optical microscopy and scanning electron microscopy. A comparison of corrosion attach in steels (AISI 304, AISI 316, OX18Hl0T and SCR-1) in different heat treated conditions is presented. The suitability of nonstandardized methods for IC-testing is evaluated as well as the suitability of the IC-tests for different practical purposes