A Study on Effects of Mechanical Stress and Cathodic Protection on Marine Coatings on Mild Steel in Artificial Seawater

摘要

In this work, the separate and combined effects of elastic stress and cathodic protection (CP) potential on barrier properties of two marine coating systems applied on Q235 steel plates in artificial seawater were investigated through measurements of electrochemical impedance spectra. The obtained results indicated that elastic stress could have a significant influence on coating barrier property, and the extent of this influence depends on both the magnitude and direction of elastic stress. Meanwhile, it was shown that the separate application of CP could also promote coating degradation, and for both coating systems, the more negative the applied CP potential, the more quickly and more seriously the coatings deteriorated. Furthermore, compared with the sample with only stress or CP, the results showed that the interaction between mechanical stress and CP could reduce their respective impact on coating barrier property, and the combined effect depends on the predominant factor.