Effect of nonmetallic inclusions on localized corrosion of spring steel

Certain inclusions in high-strength 60Si2Mn–Cr spring steel result in poor resistance to localized corrosion. In this work, to study the effect of inclusions on the localized corrosion behavior of spring steel, accelerated corrosion tests were performed by immersing spring steel in 3wt% FeCl₃ solution for different times. The results show that severe corrosion occurred in areas of clustered CaS inclusions. Sulfide inclusions containing Ca and Mg induced the strongest localized corrosion susceptibility. For the case of (Ca,Mn,Mg)S inclusions, the ability to induce localized corrosion susceptibility is ranked as follows: MgS > CaS > MnS. Moreover, CaS, (Ca,Mn)S, and (Ca,Mn,Mg)S inclusions were mainly responsible for inducing environmental embrittlement.