TY - JOUR
T1 - Corrosion performance of titanium and titanium stabilised stainless steels
AU - Boulton, L. H.
AU - Betts, A. J.
PY - 1991/1/1
Y1 - 1991/1/1
N2 - Titanium and its alloys provide industry with a number of materials which are strong, light, and very corrosion resistant. In addition, titanium is added as an alloying constituent to some stainless steels to act as a stabiliser during welding. Over the past 30 years titanium alloys have been increasingly used in process industries, and wherever ʼnil corrosion’ is considered to be an essential design feature. The main drawback to titanium usage has been relatively high cost, but freedom from plant corrosion failures, reduced downtime for maintenance, and the increasing availability of titanium have made this metal and its alloys an attractive choice in recent years. Applications include process vessels, heat exchangers, marine fittings, offshore components, pump castings, and other applications where materials encounter a hostile service environment. Nevertheless, titanium and its alloys are still subject to some forms of corrosive attack, such as galvanic corrosion, hydrogen absorption, erosion corrosion, and crevice corrosion. Special welding procedures are also required, which, if ignored, can lead to serious problems. This paper outlines a number of recent investigations into some problems encountered in industrial and marine environments, where both titanium metal and titanium stabilised stainless steels have suffered unexpected corrosion attack. The case histories described illustrate that titanium may show unexpected corrosion problems if certain aspects of its corrosion behaviour are overlooked.
AB - Titanium and its alloys provide industry with a number of materials which are strong, light, and very corrosion resistant. In addition, titanium is added as an alloying constituent to some stainless steels to act as a stabiliser during welding. Over the past 30 years titanium alloys have been increasingly used in process industries, and wherever ʼnil corrosion’ is considered to be an essential design feature. The main drawback to titanium usage has been relatively high cost, but freedom from plant corrosion failures, reduced downtime for maintenance, and the increasing availability of titanium have made this metal and its alloys an attractive choice in recent years. Applications include process vessels, heat exchangers, marine fittings, offshore components, pump castings, and other applications where materials encounter a hostile service environment. Nevertheless, titanium and its alloys are still subject to some forms of corrosive attack, such as galvanic corrosion, hydrogen absorption, erosion corrosion, and crevice corrosion. Special welding procedures are also required, which, if ignored, can lead to serious problems. This paper outlines a number of recent investigations into some problems encountered in industrial and marine environments, where both titanium metal and titanium stabilised stainless steels have suffered unexpected corrosion attack. The case histories described illustrate that titanium may show unexpected corrosion problems if certain aspects of its corrosion behaviour are overlooked.
UR - http://www.scopus.com/inward/record.url?scp=0026408203&partnerID=8YFLogxK
U2 - 10.1179/000705991798268982
DO - 10.1179/000705991798268982
M3 - Article
AN - SCOPUS:0026408203
SN - 0007-0599
VL - 26
SP - 287
EP - 292
JO - British Corrosion Journal
JF - British Corrosion Journal
IS - 4
ER -