Electrochemical atomic force microscope for in-situ measurement and imaging of pitting corrosion in pipeline steels

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Pitting corrosion has been demonstrated to be one of the dominant mechanisms resulting in pipeline failure. In addition to the coating performance, cathodic protection and the environmental conditions, the occurrence of pitting corrosion on pipelines depends strongly on metallurgical features of the steel. Recently, the rapidly increasing energy demand has driven development of high-strength pipeline steels, such as X80 and X100 steels. The unique metallurgical microstructure of high-strength steels is quite different from that of the low grade steels. It is expected that these metallurgical features are associated with electrochemical heterogeneities, and thus affect the pit initiation and growth mechanisms and kinetics. To date, research in the effect of steel metallurgy on pitting corrosion of pipelines has remained macroscopic and statistical, and is not able to advance the understanding of this phenomenon mechanistically.