Corrosion of Copper Weldments in Salty and Acidic Solutions

• Published in: Tikrit journal of engineering sciences Vol. 15; no. 1; pp. 35 - 50
• Main Authors: Yackaub, Jawdat A., Rofa, Faris M., Abbas, Ehsan F.
• Format: Journal Article
• Language: English
• Published: Tikrit University 31.03.2008
• ISSN: 1813-162X; 2312-7589
• DOI: 10.25130/tjes.15.1.09

The present study is conducted by exposing copper weldement specimens which were prepared by oxy-acetylene welding operation for copper tube by using tin-bronze alloy as a filler metal , to salty and acidic aqueous solutions containing respectively (0.5, 1.5 and 3) wt% NaCl and (0.5, 1 and 2) wt%H2SO4 . The corrosion behavior of weldements showed a general decrease in corrosion rates in salty solutions with increasing of exposure time . The same thing happened to the weldement specimen which was exposed to the acidic solution containing (0.5) wt%H2SO4, while the corrosion rate of the weldements which exposed to the acidic solution containing (1 and 2)wt%H2SO4 was dropped during the first (288 hr) of exposure then a relative increase was observed by increasing the exposure time. Also the results of the calculated total corrosion rates (CrT) indicated higher value for the weldements exposed to acidic solution if they compared with those values obtained with salty solution for (696 hr) exposure. Further more; the examinations by optical microscope for the weldements indicated presence of pitting corrosion at welding zones by exposing the weldement to both salty and acidic solutions, while the general corrosion had a moderate appearance of the cupric part for weldements tested by these two solutions.