Investigation of corrosion behavior at elbow by array electrode and computational fluid dynamics simulation

Abstract

Abstract The present study focuses on the flow‐accelerated corrosion (FAC) behavior of A106Gr.B steel at 90° elbow by electrochemical measurement and computational fluid dynamics (CFD) simulation. The FAC rates under turbulent flows with a velocity of 3 and 1.5 m/s were measured by an array electrode technique in a loop system. The experimental results reveal that the maximum FAC rate appears at the extrados of 90° elbow, consistent with the locations from the rupture of the carbon steel piping in the worst cases at elbows. In addition, an effective mass transfer coefficient in consideration of the geometric factor was used to evaluate the FAC rate at intrados and extrados of the 90° elbow by CFD simulation. The predicted results are in good agreement with the experimental values.