Effect of Cerium on Inclusion Evolution and Pitting Corrosion of Nb-Microalloyed Steel

Nb-microalloyed steels are widely used in construction engineering fields due to their excellent mechanical properties, but they face serious corrosion problems in service environments. Pitting corrosion is the severest form of corrosion, and the types of inclusions are the leading cause to induce pitting corrosion. A new strategy is proposed to enhance the corrosion resistance of steels by achieving a beneficial transformation of inclusions with Ce treatment. In this paper, two types of Nb-microalloyed steels (0% Ce and 0.0058% Ce steel) were prepared to study the modification effect on inclusions in industrial production. The spherical CaS•C₁₂A₇ inclusions were modified to smaller ellipsoidal Ce₂O₂S inclusions, and the proportion of inclusions (0-2 μm) increased significantly from 27 to 66%, while large inclusions (>6 μm) disappeared. A kinetic model of inclusion evolution was established. The results of electrochemical tests indicated that the corrosion potential was positively shifted, and the corrosion current was reduced after Ce treatment. Additionally, the number of defects in the passivation film was decreased, and the corrosion resistance of the steel was significantly improved. The addition of Ce changed the types of inclusions and reduced the number of pitting nucleation points, which led to a remarkable reduction in the number and size of pitting pits. The mechanism of pitting corrosion induced by different types of inclusions was further investigated, and a pitting corrosion model was modeled based on the immersion experiments. Research results provide theoretical support for enhancing the corrosion resistance of steel.