Pitting corrosion behaviour of 316l stainless steels in tropical seawater

The open circuit potential (OCP) and the pitting potential of 316L stainless steel (SS) have been determined as a function of the immersion time in tropical seawater. An increase in the noble direction of the OCP for short exposures was observed. After certain time occasional fall and rise of the OCP values was observed Pitting potentials measurements shows that a relatively small increase in the seawater temperature can increase the susceptibility to localized corrosion of this alloy Little or no effect of the exposure time on the pitting potential was observed SEM observation shows that the steel surface was colonized by bacteria an microalgae which forms an heterogeneous biofilm on the steel surface which probably have an influence on the corrosion behaviour of 316L SS in seawater.