Prospects and Application of Acoustic Emission Technology in Metal Corrosion Research

Electrochemical experiments such as: polarization curve, electrochemical impedance spectroscopy, anodic passivation curve and so on are generally used in metal corrosion research to analyze the characters of metal corrosion. However, acoustic emission (AE) technology takes the way of “passive listening”, by analyzing AE signals generated in active corrosion, to reveal the corrosion mechanism and dynamic corrosion behavior, further to estimate the corrosion rate and locate the corrosion source. The prospects and application of AE technology in the corrosion research of stainless steels, aluminum alloys and carbon steels are summairized in order to promote the application of AE technology to engineering.