Publication

Abstract : Corrosive nature of the stainless steel surfaces causes material losses which, in turn, affects the structural stability of structure. The corrosion of AISI304 surfaces can be controlled by decreasing the contact between the aqueous corrosive media and the material surface. The modifications in corrosion behaviour of AISI304 surfaces were investigated experimentally by enabling small surface area of 5 mm by 5 mm cross section of material surface using single microgroove of different sizes and shapes such as U, V, and inverted cut cone. In addition to superhydrophobic behaviour of modified area, the liquid drop established anisotropic wetting behaviour, i.e., the static contact angle of the liquid drop is higher in the direction perpendicular to groove than the one measured in the direction of groove. The static contact angle was found to decrease with increase in geometrical parameter of the groove, i.e., the ratio between the groove width to groove depth. This behaviour, in turn, increased the contact area of the liquid drop. The parameters obtained from the corrosion measurements using potentiodynamic polarisation such as corrosion current, polarisation resistance, and corrosion rate clearly indicate a relationship between the wetting behaviour of the liquid drop and geometrical parameter of the single microgroove.