Moving boundary simulation and mechanistic studies of the electrochemical corrosion protection by a damaged zinc coating
By Saeedikhani, Mohsen; Wijesinghe, Sudesh; Blackwood, Daniel John
Published in Corrosion Science
2019
Abstract
The mechanism of corrosion protection of steel substrate by a 96 wt% zinc primer that was damaged by scratch was simulated. The primer was approximated to pure zinc layer due to high percentage of zinc. Results show that while the middle of scratch is protected by sacrificial protection, at the corners of scratch a local cathodic inhibition results in barrier protection due to variations in the dissolved oxygen concentration. Moving boundary simulation allowed to predict the changes to the geometry of the corroding electrodes. Finally, taking into account zinc electrodes consumption, the period of sacrificial protection was predicted by simulations.