Corrosion Behaviour of Al, Cu, and Fe Alloys in Deep Sea Environment

Abstract

Corrosion Behaviour of Al, Cu, and Fe Alloys in
Deep Sea Environment
G. Luciano, P. Letardi, P. Traverso, L. Belsanti
The aimof this study is to investigate deep sea environment effects on the corrosion of Al, Fe, and Cu alloys, employed
in the KM3NeT project, a deep sea infrastructure designed to host a neutrino telescope. Alloys commonly used in
seawater, as well as less widely employed materials were studied. Samples were immersed at the NEMO site (located
off Capo Passero, Italy; 3365 mdepth) for consecutive time periods of 6, 12 and 18 months. A representative set of
samples was recovered and laboratory tests performed to evaluate the type and degree of corrosion attack. Stainless
steels reported the best performance in terms of weight loss, corrosion rate, and corrosion morphology. However, also
Al 5093 and Al 6082 performed satisfactorily, in terms of weight loss and corrosion rate. This prescreening will be
partially employed in selecting buildingmaterials for the KM3NeT structure.