Pitting corrosion of stainless steel: measuring and modelling pit propagation in support of damage prediction for radioactive waste containers

In situ synchrotron radiography has been used to observe the evolution of two-dimensional pits growing in stainless steel foils under electrochemical control in chloride solutions. A method for extracting the key kinetic parameters from radiographs is under development to provide data for validating and calibrating a two-dimensional finite element model previously developed by Laycock and White. The local current density along the boundary of a pit is directly measured from the radiographs. Then, the local metal ion concentration and potential drop inside the pit cavity are backcalculated using transport equations and the requirement to maintain charge neutrality, giving the relationship between current density, solution composition and interfacial potential. Preliminary comparisons show qualitative correlation between the model and extracted data; quantitative comparison is under way.