Corrosion Behaviour of Al, Cu, and Fe Alloys in Deep Sea Environment

Aim of this study is to investigate deep sea environment effects on the corrosion of Al, Fe, and Cu alloys, employed in the KM3NeT project, a deep sea infrastructure designed to host a neutrino telescope. Alloys commonly used in seawater, as well as less widely employed materials were studied. Samples were immersed at the NEMO site (located off Capo Passero, Italy; 3365 mdepth) for consecutive time periods of 6, 12 and 18 months. A representative set of samples was recovered and laboratory tests performed to evaluate the type and degree of corrosion attack. Stainless steels reported the best performance in terms of weight loss, corrosion rate, and corrosion morphology. However, also Al 5093 and Al 6082 performed satisfactorily, in terms of weight loss and corrosion rate. This prescreening will be partially employed in selecting buildingmaterials for the KM3NeT structure.