Influence of Heat Treatment on Corrosion of Low Carbon Steel in Sulfuric Acid Solutions

Abstract

Different heat treatments such as (Annealing, Normalizing, Hardening in oil, and Hardening in water) of low carbon steel (LCS) specimens were performed in electrical furnace at constant temperature of (850ºC). The aim of this work was to estimate the effect of each heat treatment of LCS specimens on their corrosion rate (CR) in sulfuric acid solutions at constant room temperature of (25±5ºC). The CR was measured, while the acid concentration (Cacid) and immersion time (T) were changed according to experimental plan. Computer program (Statgraphics/Experimental Design) was used to calculate the fitted linear model of corrosion rate of low carbon steel in terms of (Cacid, and T) for each heat treatment separately. The fitted linear models of CR were adequate, while the interactions of the operating parameters were negligible. The R- square statistic indicates that the models as fitted explain 81-93% of the variability in corrosion rate.