Effects of anodic dissolution in corrosive slurries with different chemical compositions and pHs on the
in-situ surface mechanical properties and slurry erosion resistance of carbon steel are investigated. The
experimental measurements indicate that the materials loss rate due to corrosion-enhanced erosion
increases linearly with the logarithm of anodic current density. The in-situ nanoindentation shows that
the presence of anodic current on surface reduces the surface hardness. Under the galvanostatic
control, the erosion rates in acidic slurries are much higher than those in the neutral and alkaline
slurries. The exposure to the acidic solutions can also lead to a larger in-situ surface hardness
reduction than those than those observed in neutral and alkaline solutions. In the neutral and alkaline
corrosive media, the erosion rates and the in-situ surface hardness degradation are hardly affected by
the chemical composition of aqueous media. The agreement in the high-to-low order of the in-situ
surface hardness and the erosion wastage under the galvanostatic control suggests the corrosioninduced
surface mechanical property degradation may play a role in the mechanism of corrosionenhanced
erosion.
KEY WORDS: erosion, corrosion, hardness, surface, steel