Polarization Resistance Purpose

The polarization resistance technique is a non-destructive technique used to obtain a rapid estimate of the corrosion rate of a metal in a solution. Cell current readings are taken during a very short, slow sweep of the potential. The sweep typically is from –10 mV to +10 mV relative to E_oc. Over this range, the current-vs.-voltage curve is roughly linear. A linear fit of the data to a standard model yields an estimate of the Polarization Resistance R_p. R_p is then used to calculate I_corr and corrosion rate.

Disadvantages	The corrosion-rate calculation requires that you provide kinetic parameters (βs) which you must estimate or obtain from another type of experiment.
	The result of a polarization-resistance calculation is typically less accurate than the corrosion rate calculated from Tafel data.
Advantages	Polarization Resistance experiments run very quickly.
	The scan in a polarization-resistance experiment does not appreciably polarize the sample. This minimizes changes in the surface of your sample caused by the test itself. This is especially important for long-term monitoring.

Analysis of the curve can yield the following types of information:

Corrosion potential
Corrosion current and corrosion rate

ASTM Standard G-59, "Practice for Conducting Potentiodynamic Polarization Resistance Measurements," contains useful information about polarization resistance measurements.