The Influence of H₂SO₄- NaCl Electrolyte Composition to the Electrochemical Noise Behaviour of a High-Alloy Cast Steel

Abstract

In this study, the influence of varying sulphuric acid – sodium chloride electrolyte composition to the electrochemical noise behaviour of a high-alloy cast steel was analysed. The noise analysis was carried out in a bare 0.1 M sulphuric acid solution, in a pure 5 wt.% sodium chloride solution and three solutions with defined ratios of both. The electrochemical current noise signal was recorded with a sampling rate of 100 Hz for 1 hour in each test solution. For the identification of the frequency content of notified characteristic transients, the current-time records were analysed by the continuous wavelet transform (CWT). The characteristic transients were extracted from the noise signal for a further analysis of their frequency and amplitude characteristics. The results show high-frequency transients in the bare sulphuric acid and low-frequency transients in the pure sodium chloride solution. In the combined electrolyte solutions the portion of low-frequency components increases when the NaCl content increases and indicates the enhancing influence of localised damage evolution processes at the steel surface.