Fundamental Study of Corrosion Control in Marine and Offshore Structures Using Radiation Induced Surface Activation (RISA)

A corrosion mitigation technique based on radiation induced surface activation (RISA) from the gamma ray irradiation on a metal surface is reported in this paper. This study aimed to develop a RISA method to prevent crevice corrosion in SUS304 stainless steel using low-intensity radioactive material. Experiment showed that an electrode potential of -100 mV vs. Ag/AgCl was produced and maintained on TiO2-coated SUS304 stainless steel specimens immersed in artificial seawater and in close contact with a small, sealed60Co source or activated by spontaneous neutron irradiation, with no corrosion observed for more than 7 days. On the contrary, the potential of the specimen without a radiation source decreased less than-280 mV vs. Ag/AgCl and crevice corrosion occurred beneath the O-ring within few days. The RISA effect of low-intensity radioactive material has the potential to prevent crevice corrosion of SUS304 stainless steel in actual seawater.