Thesis (Ph. D.)--West Virginia University, 2007. / Title from document title page. Document formatted into pages; contains xvii, 181 p. : ill. (some col.). Includes abstract. Includes bibliographical references (p. 167-181).

Crevice corrosion is a form of galvanic corrosion that occurs when a metal is exposed to different environments. This occurs when the oxygen within the crevice gets depleted, thus acting as the anodic site for metal dissolution reaction. The anodic site thus encourages the migration of Cl- ions into the crevice leading to the development of an aggressive local solution. The acidic conditions present in the crevice reaches a critical crevice solution composition and results in the loss of stability of the passive film which further leads to a rapid breakdown of these films on the metal thus indicating the onset of active corrosion.<p> In this research, it is hypothesized that the onset of crevice corrosion can be detected by measuring the galvanic coupling current between electrodes in a crevice and an external metal surface composed of the same material as the electrodes. To prove this hypothesis an engineered crevice was designed to measure IR controlled crevice currents along the crevice length of AISI 304 stainless steel immersed in a 0.5 M solution and a 1 M NaCl solution. Varying crevice openings were used to determine the effect of crevice gap (G) on the initiation of crevice corrosion and the position of the accelerated attack within the crevice.<p> Multiplexed corrosion potential measurement and galvanic corrosion measurement techniques were used to measure the change in the open circuit potential (OCP) and the galvanic current for the four channels along the crevice length of the galvanic couple. The results obtained from the MGC test for the 100 µm crevice width immersed in 0.5 M NaCl solution showed good results with high anodic current at approximately 1 cm from the crevice mouth. This finding was in close agreement with the peak pH value observed at the position closest to the crevice mouth in the work of Alavi and Cottis (1987) and the model prediction of Kennell et al. 2009. However, for test samples with crevice width ≥ 200 µm, there was no initiation of crevice corrosion and the results obtained were discarded. The Linear polarization resistance scan and Potentiodynamic polarization scan carried out along the crevice to measure the polarization resistance, Rp , and to obtain the region of passivity along an AISI 304 SS crevice did not yield good results. Low corrosion rate in the range of 0.06 mm/yr was calculated for the AISI 304 stainless steel crevice.

Deterioration of reinforced concrete structures due primarily to chloride induced corrosion of plain carbon-steel reinforcement is a widespread problem, particularly in areas close to marine environments and where de-icing salts are used to keep roadways clear of ice. Replacing plain carbon-steel rebar with highly corrosion resistant stainless steel rebar has been shown to greatly increase the lifespan of concrete structures in harsh environments, and yields favourable life-cycle costs despite high initial costs. In attempt to lower stainless steel rebar’s initial cost of processing, this research compared its corrosion resistance in the pickled (mill scale removed) and as-rolled (mill scale intact) surface conditions. Rebar was embedded in highly-chloride contaminated concrete, and corrosion performance between the two surface types was compared in order to determine if conventional pickling of stainless steel rebar is necessary. A second part of this research addressed possible concern of reduced corrosion resistance of pickled stainless steel rebar in concrete exposed to chlorides when subjected to dynamic loading due to micro-motion at the concrete/crack interface. It was concluded that as-rolled stainless steel rebar in aggressive environments would provide sufficient corrosion resistance for the 75 year lifespan currently specified by the Canadian Bridge Code (CAN/CSA-S6-06, 2006), however it is recommended that monitoring of these specimens be continued to ensure high corrosion rates and/or concrete cracking do not develop. As well, investigation into the effects crevice corrosion cells found in typical concrete structures could have on as-rolled stainless steel rebar’s corrosion resistance should be undertaken. With regard to loading conditions, no significant evidence was found suggesting that pickled stainless steel rebar has reduced corrosion resistance when loaded dynamically versus statically. Therefore pickled stainless steel rebar is recommended for use in dynamically loaded concrete structures if others factors permit. However, the higher electrochemical noise measured during cyclic loading suggests that corrosion behaviour could be influenced largely by frequency of loading, and so further study should be undertaken for applications involving more extreme cyclic loading conditions than those used in this experiment.

Corrosion of carbon (black) steel reinforcing bars (rebar) is the major cause of damage and deterioration of reinforced concrete structures in maritime regions and in climates where de-icing salts are used. The cause of the corrosion is diffusion of chloride ions to the steel surface through the concrete in which it is placed. The bars are naturally passivated by the high pH of concrete interstitial pore fluid, and will not corrode in chloride-free concrete. Chloride ions break down the passive film, allowing dissolution of the steel. Corrosion of reinforcing steel drastically reduces the service lives of concrete structures. Where chlorides can not be avoided, stainless steel is becoming increasingly popular as an alternative reinforcing material. Stainless steel is able to withstand greater concentrations of chlorides, extending the service lives of structure in which they are placed. Due to high initial cost, stainless steel is often avoided in the design of new structures. In order to reduce the cost of stainless rebar, it has been proposed that the standard process of abrasive blasting and pickling of the steels not be performed, as these steps are mainly used to restore a bright and shiny surface, a quality not required for steels embedded in concrete. AISI 304LN, AISI 316LN and 2205 duplex stainless steels were tested with pickled surfaces as well as with mill-scale intact (as-rolled) in order to determine the affect of pickling vs. not pickling on the corrosion behaviour of the steels. Steels were tested in solutions simulating concrete interstitial pore fluid containing from 0 to 16% Cl- by mass of solution, simulating cement paste with 0 to 7.5% Cl- by mass of cement, which is near the solubility limit of Cl- in pore fluid. Steels were also tested in thin mortar shells, with Cl- ions being rapidly diffused to the surface due to an applied potential gradient. The microcell corrosion performance of the as-rolled steels was slightly worse than that of pickled steels; however, the corrosion rates of the as-rolled steels at 16% Cl- in pore fluid are near 3 µm/year, while black steel is normally observed to be actively corroding at 10 µm/year in cement containing as low as 0.1% Cl- by mass of cement, or 0.2% Cl- by mass of solution. No significant difference was observed between different grades of stainless steel in either the as-rolled or pickled conditions. As-rolled stainless steels exhibited poor pitting resistance when an anodic potential is applied, but the corrosion occurs at potentials much higher than experienced in service and at Cl- concentrations far greater than that needed to initiate corrosion on black steel; the time required to reach these higher Cl- levels would allow for maintenance free service long enough to justify the cost of as-rolled stainless steel over black steel. The Canadian Highway Bridge Design Code, CSA S6-06, specifies that reinforced concrete bridges should meet a service life of 75 years. It is concluded that, given the time required for concentrated chlorides to accumulate at the steel, the stainless steel rebar in the as-rolled condition would allow reinforced concrete structures to reach the specified service life, as long as care is taken to avoid contamination of the steel/surface by black steel from handling, or by secondary phases within the steel, Cr23C6 and MnS in particular.

A problem with cold pilgered tubes for OCTG applications is that they can get anisotropic properties with regard to yield strength. One source of anisotropy is texture that is developed during the cold deformation. EBSD measurements have been made on several austenitic stainless steels with different deformations to see what influence the composition has on the texture formation. The same measurements were used to study the influence of grain size on texture formation. The conclusion was that the composition can have an impact on the texture and hence has potential to also affect the anisotropy. The differences in texture cannot be associated with a specific alloying element, but is rather a synergetic effect. It was also concluded that grain structure has no strong influence on texture formation. An evaluation of three different tool designs used for cold pilgering was made. The designs evaluated are referred to as design A, B and C. EBSD measurements showed large deviations in texture in the middle of the wall compared to close to the surface of pilgered OCTG. However, the measurements showed no large differences between the three designs and the texture could not be coupled to the anisotropy.

Deterioration of reinforced concrete structures due primarily to chloride induced corrosion of plain carbon-steel reinforcement is a widespread problem, particularly in areas close to marine environments and where de-icing salts are used to keep roadways clear of ice. Replacing plain carbon-steel rebar with highly corrosion resistant stainless steel rebar has been shown to greatly increase the lifespan of concrete structures in harsh environments, and yields favourable life-cycle costs despite high initial costs. In attempt to lower stainless steel rebar’s initial cost of processing, this research compared its corrosion resistance in the pickled (mill scale removed) and as-rolled (mill scale intact) surface conditions. Rebar was embedded in highly-chloride contaminated concrete, and corrosion performance between the two surface types was compared in order to determine if conventional pickling of stainless steel rebar is necessary. A second part of this research addressed possible concern of reduced corrosion resistance of pickled stainless steel rebar in concrete exposed to chlorides when subjected to dynamic loading due to micro-motion at the concrete/crack interface. It was concluded that as-rolled stainless steel rebar in aggressive environments would provide sufficient corrosion resistance for the 75 year lifespan currently specified by the Canadian Bridge Code (CAN/CSA-S6-06, 2006), however it is recommended that monitoring of these specimens be continued to ensure high corrosion rates and/or concrete cracking do not develop. As well, investigation into the effects crevice corrosion cells found in typical concrete structures could have on as-rolled stainless steel rebar’s corrosion resistance should be undertaken. With regard to loading conditions, no significant evidence was found suggesting that pickled stainless steel rebar has reduced corrosion resistance when loaded dynamically versus statically. Therefore pickled stainless steel rebar is recommended for use in dynamically loaded concrete structures if others factors permit. However, the higher electrochemical noise measured during cyclic loading suggests that corrosion behaviour could be influenced largely by frequency of loading, and so further study should be undertaken for applications involving more extreme cyclic loading conditions than those used in this experiment.

Corrosion of carbon (black) steel reinforcing bars (rebar) is the major cause of damage and deterioration of reinforced concrete structures in maritime regions and in climates where de-icing salts are used. The cause of the corrosion is diffusion of chloride ions to the steel surface through the concrete in which it is placed. The bars are naturally passivated by the high pH of concrete interstitial pore fluid, and will not corrode in chloride-free concrete. Chloride ions break down the passive film, allowing dissolution of the steel. Corrosion of reinforcing steel drastically reduces the service lives of concrete structures. Where chlorides can not be avoided, stainless steel is becoming increasingly popular as an alternative reinforcing material. Stainless steel is able to withstand greater concentrations of chlorides, extending the service lives of structure in which they are placed. Due to high initial cost, stainless steel is often avoided in the design of new structures. In order to reduce the cost of stainless rebar, it has been proposed that the standard process of abrasive blasting and pickling of the steels not be performed, as these steps are mainly used to restore a bright and shiny surface, a quality not required for steels embedded in concrete. AISI 304LN, AISI 316LN and 2205 duplex stainless steels were tested with pickled surfaces as well as with mill-scale intact (as-rolled) in order to determine the affect of pickling vs. not pickling on the corrosion behaviour of the steels. Steels were tested in solutions simulating concrete interstitial pore fluid containing from 0 to 16% Cl- by mass of solution, simulating cement paste with 0 to 7.5% Cl- by mass of cement, which is near the solubility limit of Cl- in pore fluid. Steels were also tested in thin mortar shells, with Cl- ions being rapidly diffused to the surface due to an applied potential gradient. The microcell corrosion performance of the as-rolled steels was slightly worse than that of pickled steels; however, the corrosion rates of the as-rolled steels at 16% Cl- in pore fluid are near 3 µm/year, while black steel is normally observed to be actively corroding at 10 µm/year in cement containing as low as 0.1% Cl- by mass of cement, or 0.2% Cl- by mass of solution. No significant difference was observed between different grades of stainless steel in either the as-rolled or pickled conditions. As-rolled stainless steels exhibited poor pitting resistance when an anodic potential is applied, but the corrosion occurs at potentials much higher than experienced in service and at Cl- concentrations far greater than that needed to initiate corrosion on black steel; the time required to reach these higher Cl- levels would allow for maintenance free service long enough to justify the cost of as-rolled stainless steel over black steel. The Canadian Highway Bridge Design Code, CSA S6-06, specifies that reinforced concrete bridges should meet a service life of 75 years. It is concluded that, given the time required for concentrated chlorides to accumulate at the steel, the stainless steel rebar in the as-rolled condition would allow reinforced concrete structures to reach the specified service life, as long as care is taken to avoid contamination of the steel/surface by black steel from handling, or by secondary phases within the steel, Cr23C6 and MnS in particular.

Crevice corrosion is a form of galvanic corrosion that occurs when a metal is exposed to different environments. This occurs when the oxygen within the crevice gets depleted, thus acting as the anodic site for metal dissolution reaction. The anodic site thus encourages the migration of Cl- ions into the crevice leading to the development of an aggressive local solution. The acidic conditions present in the crevice reaches a critical crevice solution composition and results in the loss of stability of the passive film which further leads to a rapid breakdown of these films on the metal thus indicating the onset of active corrosion.<p> In this research, it is hypothesized that the onset of crevice corrosion can be detected by measuring the galvanic coupling current between electrodes in a crevice and an external metal surface composed of the same material as the electrodes. To prove this hypothesis an engineered crevice was designed to measure IR controlled crevice currents along the crevice length of AISI 304 stainless steel immersed in a 0.5 M solution and a 1 M NaCl solution. Varying crevice openings were used to determine the effect of crevice gap (G) on the initiation of crevice corrosion and the position of the accelerated attack within the crevice.<p> Multiplexed corrosion potential measurement and galvanic corrosion measurement techniques were used to measure the change in the open circuit potential (OCP) and the galvanic current for the four channels along the crevice length of the galvanic couple. The results obtained from the MGC test for the 100 µm crevice width immersed in 0.5 M NaCl solution showed good results with high anodic current at approximately 1 cm from the crevice mouth. This finding was in close agreement with the peak pH value observed at the position closest to the crevice mouth in the work of Alavi and Cottis (1987) and the model prediction of Kennell et al. 2009. However, for test samples with crevice width ≥ 200 µm, there was no initiation of crevice corrosion and the results obtained were discarded. The Linear polarization resistance scan and Potentiodynamic polarization scan carried out along the crevice to measure the polarization resistance, Rp , and to obtain the region of passivity along an AISI 304 SS crevice did not yield good results. Low corrosion rate in the range of 0.06 mm/yr was calculated for the AISI 304 stainless steel crevice.

This study presents a high-performance ZnO piezoelectric transducer integrated with the flexible stainless steel substrate. The ZnO piezoelectric film of 1.08nm was deposited on the flexible stainless steel substrate using a RF magnetron sputtering system. The cantilever length of 1cm and the vibration area of 1cm2 were designed for low-frequency environment according to the Cantilever Vibration Theory. The effects of various sputtering parameters such as substrate temperature, RF power and sputtering pressure were investigated to improve the piezoelectric characteristics of ZnO thin films. It was also discussed the unit thickness of open voltage values, and then the optimal sputtering parameters were determined. The physical characteristics of ZnO thin films were obtained by the analyses of the scanning electron microscopy (SEM) and X-ray diffraction (XRD) to discuss the surfaces, cross section and crystallization of ZnO thin films. The voltage analysis were measured the open and load voltage by the measurement system. The optimal deposition parameters for ZnO thin films are substrate temperature of 300¢J, RF power of 75W, sputtering pressure of 9 mTorr and oxygen concentration of 60%, which were determined by physical characteristics and voltage analysis. The study employs a precise mass loading of 0.57g on the cantilever to increase the vibration amplitude. The vibration source from 1~150Hz was provided to the piezoelectric transducer, and then the experimental results were showed resonance frequency of 75Hz by oscilloscope. When the optimal thickness of ZnO films is 1.08£gm and vibration amplitude is 1.19mm, the open circuit voltage of the power generator is 5.25V.After rectifying and flitting with a capacitor of 33nF,the maximum power of 1.0£gW/cm2 was achieved with the load resistance of 5M£[.

From 1992, the economy of Mainland China grow up faster, and the supply of steel falls serious short of demand, Taiwanese companies all want to invest in China. Our search focuses on these Taiwanese companies in China to find the key successful factors in investment. Based on the research result, we conclude below: 1. The advantage of culture different The interaction between Taiwan and Mainland China are very frequently, no matter in commerce activities, political and so on. Related to others foreign companies, the Taiwanese companies get more advantage in culture parts, like same language, living situation and also avoid the culture shake, so, the Taiwanese companies could get complete information than the foreign companies. But the companies still pay attention to deal with the localization. 2. The better managerial abilities Related to local company, the Taiwanese company have compete managerial system, for a new comer, it will help company to gain more performance, but the Taiwanese company still need to keep the organization flexibility, to hold the competitive advantage. 3. Product price setting flexible When company set price in China market, the price setting system should let the customers feel they been treat fair and reasonable, when the company use open quantity discount, allowance, payment term system, flexible price will make the customers feel more value. Keyword: Stainless Steel Industry, Key Successful Factors