Published online by Cambridge University Press: 19 October 2011
The requirements for the initiation and propagation of localized corrosion are reviewed, and the stability criteria for sustained localized corrosion are discussed. A conceptual framework is applied to a specific scenario of a hot metal surface covered by a thin layer of particulate containing dissolvable salts in the presence of air of limited humidity. A number of processes are demonstrated to affect the crevice corrosion propagation, stifling and arrest. Contributions of the particulate layer properties, the anode, cathode and coupled processes are identified, showing that any of these can control localized corrosion propagation. The findings add to the technical basis for the analysis of localized corrosion by a decision tree methodology.