Ultrasonically enhanced corrosion of 304L stainless steel I: The effect of temperature and hydrostatic pressure

A systematic study of the effect exerted by various parameters on the corrosion of 304L stainless steel in an ultrasonic field has been carried out. Ultrasound increased the corrosion rate under all the investigated conditions. In this paper, attention is focused on the effect of temperature and hydrostatic pressure. At ambient pressure, increase in temperature, T, was found to increase the ultrasonically enhanced corrosion rate up to a maximum of 40°C, at 50°C a marked decrease in the effect of ultrasound was observed. At constant temperature, increase in hydrostatic pressure caused a strong increase in corrosion rate to values in excess of 2500 mm yr−1 at 4 bar.