Localised corrosion of cathodically protected pipeline steel under the effects of cyclic potential transients

Cathodic protection (CP) may lose its effectiveness for protecting buried steel pipeline from soil corrosion due to the effects of potential excursions caused by stray currents. In this work, dynamic localised corrosion processes of buried steel due to the effects of cyclic potential transients have been visualised using an electrochemically integrated multi-electrode array, often referred to as the wire beam electrode (WBE). The focus has been on the understanding of the effect of cathodic transients. The WBE maps suggest that the amplitude of cathodic transient, as well as the ratio of anodic cyclic to cathodic cyclic, can significantly affect the corrosion rates and patterns. In particular, if the cathodic transient leads to a very negative potential, e.g. −1350 mV vs.CSE , rapid corrosion would occur on buried steel surface. These results have implications for CP parameter selection for preventing stray current-affected buried steel pipelines.