Galvanic corrosion behavior of copper-clad steel bars with unclad two-end faces

The galvanic corrosion behavior of continuous casting copper-clad steel- and electroplating copper-clad steel-bars with unclad two-end faces was investigated by galvaric corrosion test and a laboratory embedmant test in Dagang soil. Then macro- and micro- corrosion morphology was observed by optical microscopy and SEM. The results show that the degree of galvanic corrosion of the continuous casting copper-clad steel is more serious than the electroplating copper-clad steel. The surface morphology of the clad copper, the potential difference of the coupled samples and the surface area ratio of cathode to anode are the important factors responsible to the galvanic corrosion behavior. Especially the surface area ratio of cathode to anode can obviously influence the galvanic corrosion behavior. With the increase of surface area ratio of cathode to anode, the anodic corrosion rates increase.