Chloride corrosion of austenitic stainless steel
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This post was last edited by Clouds of flowing water shine on 2026-5-27 09:09. Those with engineering experience know that austenitic stainless steel is not resistant to chloride corrosion. But checking the \"Corrosion Data and Material Selection Handbook\", it seems it can still be used.
Austenitic stainless steel is highly susceptible to stress corrosion in environments containing chloride ions. You can think of corrosion resistance as the metal’s \"basic health score,\" determining how long it can withstand normal conditions. Stress corrosion, on the other hand, is a \"fatal weakness under specific conditions\"; even a metal with a high \"baseline health level\" (corrosion resistance) can collapse instantly if it is exposed to tensile stress and certain environments.
Choose corrosion-resistant materials such as duplex stainless steel, titanium, or fluorinated coatings
For a certain project, there is frozen brine at -15°C with a calcium chloride content of around 20%; this fluid flows through the shell side of the heat exchange tubes. The heat exchange tubes are made of 316L steel – could corrosion occur?