Mathematical models that describe the dependences of the critical temperatures of pitting formation of AISI 304, 08Kh18N10, AISI 321, 12Kh18N10T steels in model circulating waters with pH 4…8 and chloride concentrations from 350 to 600 mg/l on their chemical composition and structure have been developed. They are based on linear squares regressions and a feed-forward neural network for reduced feature numbers. Using the developed mathematical models, it was found that the critical pitting temperatures of these steels increase with an increase in the pH of the circulating water, the number of oxides up to 3.95 μm in size, the average distance between titanium nitrides, the Cr content and a decrease in the concentration of chlorides in the circulating waters, the average distance between oxides and average austenite grain diameter. At the same time, it was found that the geometric dimensions of the steel structure most intensively affect their pitting resistance in circulating waters, and the effect of their chemical composition is minimal and is determined by the amount of Cr, which contributes to an increase in the pitting resistance of steels, probably increasing the solubility of nitrogen in the austenite solid solution. It is proposed to use the developed mathematical models to select the optimal heats of these steels for the production of heat exchangers and predict their pitting resistance during their operation in circulating waters.

Purpose. It consists in the development of mathematical models that describe the dependence of the critical pitting temperatures of AISI 304, 08X18N10, AISI 321, 12X18N10T steels in model circulating waters with pH 4...8 and chloride concentration from 350 to 600 mg/l. Research methods. The developed mathematical models are based on linear square regression and a neural network of direct signal propagation for a reduced set of features. Results. It was established that the critical pitting temperatures of the studied austenitic chrome-nickel steels increase with an increase in the pH of the circulating water, the number of oxides up to 3.95 μm in size, the average distance between titanium nitrides, the Cr content and a decrease in the concentration of chlorides in the circulating water, the average distance between oxides, and the austenite average grain diameter. Scientific novelty. Based on the established relationships between the critical pitting temperatures of corrosion-resistant steels AISI 304, 08Х18Н10, AISI 321, 12Х18Н10Т, their chemical composition within the standard and structural heterogeneity, the mechanisms of their influence on the pitting resistance of these structural materials in circulating chloride-containing waters have been developed. It was established that metastable pitting is formed in a solid solution of austenite of steels around oxides with a size of 1,98...3,95 microns and repassivates before reaching critical dimensions of about 5 microns, which contributes to the growth of their pitting resistance in reversible chloride-containing environments. Practical value. The developed mathematical models are proposed to be used for the selection of optimal melts of austenitic chrome-nickel steels for the production of heat exchangers and prediction of their pitting resistance during their operation in circulating waters. The processes contributing to the perforation of heat transfer elements of heat exchangers during their operation have been identified.