Mitigating flow-assisted corrosion of carbon steel through chemical-mechanical surface engineering
6 affiliations
- 1Mechanical Engineering Department, College of Engineering, Tikrit University
- 2Department of Petroleum Refining Engineering and Gas Technology, College of Chemical Engineering, University of Technology –Iraq
- 3Biomedical Engineering Department, College of Engineering, Ashur University
- 4Chemical Engineering and Sustainability Department, Faculty of Engineering, International Islamic University Malasiya (IIUM)
- 5Oil and Gas Refining Engineering Department, College of Petroleum Process engineering, Tikrit University
- 6Petroleum Systems Control Engineering Department, College of Petroleum Processes Engineering, Tikrit University
Abstract
Flow-assisted corrosion severely limits the lifetime of carbon steel infrastructure in energy systems, yet the role of surface nano-engineering under turbulent conditions remains insufficiently understood. Here, we demonstrate that chemical-mechanical polishing (CMP) can be repurposed as a corrosion-mitigating surface-engineering strategy for carbon steel operating under realistic hydrodynamic regimes. Steel specimens were treated using either silica-based CMP (10%wt SiO₂ with 3%wt H₂O₂) or mechanical abrasion (80 μm grit with H₂O₂) and evaluated under static immersion and turbulent flow (Re > 18,000) across pH 4–7. CMP-treated surfaces exhibited reduced roughness, increased contact angles, and enhanced passive layer stability. Electrochemical polarization revealed significantly lower corrosion current densities for silica-based CMP, with corrosion rates reduced by up to 40% relative to abrasive-treated samples, particularly under acidic conditions. Under dynamic flow, corrosion increased with wall shear stress to a critical threshold (~ 1.75 N mm⁻²), beyond which partial stabilization occurred, indicating a transition from mass-transfer-controlled mechanisms. These findings establish CMP as a scalable surface-engineering approach for mitigating flow-induced corrosion in pipeline environments.
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BibTeX
@article{ahmed2026mitigating,
title = {{Mitigating flow-assisted corrosion of carbon steel through chemical-mechanical surface engineering}},
author = {Mohamed Salih Ahmed and Buthainah Ali Al-Timimi and Ali Khalid Al-Dulaimy and Ali Hussein Ataiwi and Maizirwan Mel and Talib M. Albayati and Ghassan H Abdullah and Safa Khalaf Atiyaha},
journal = {Scientific Reports},
year = {2026},
month = sep,
doi = {10.1038/s41598-026-72003-1},
url = {https://doi.org/10.1038/s41598-026-72003-1},
note = {CC BY},
}
RIS
TY - JOUR
TI - Mitigating flow-assisted corrosion of carbon steel through chemical-mechanical surface engineering
AU - Mohamed Salih Ahmed
AU - Buthainah Ali Al-Timimi
AU - Ali Khalid Al-Dulaimy
AU - Ali Hussein Ataiwi
AU - Maizirwan Mel
AU - Talib M. Albayati
AU - Ghassan H Abdullah
AU - Safa Khalaf Atiyaha
PY - 2026
DA - 2026/09/01
JO - Scientific Reports
DO - 10.1038/s41598-026-72003-1
UR - https://doi.org/10.1038/s41598-026-72003-1
AB - Flow-assisted corrosion severely limits the lifetime of carbon steel infrastructure in energy systems, yet the role of surface nano-engineering under turbulent conditions remains insufficiently understood. Here, we demonstrate that chemical-mechanical polishing (CMP) can be repurposed as a corrosion-mitigating surface-engineering strategy for carbon steel operating under realistic hydrodynamic regimes. Steel specimens were treated using either silica-based CMP (10%wt SiO₂ with 3%wt H₂O₂) or mechanical abrasion (80 μm grit with H₂O₂) and evaluated under static immersion and turbulent flow (Re > 18,000) across pH 4–7. CMP-treated surfaces exhibited reduced roughness, increased contact angles, and enhanced passive layer stability. Electrochemical polarization revealed significantly lower corrosion current densities for silica-based CMP, with corrosion rates reduced by up to 40% relative to abrasive-treated samples, particularly under acidic conditions. Under dynamic flow, corrosion increased with wall shear stress to a critical threshold (~ 1.75 N mm⁻²), beyond which partial stabilization occurred, indicating a transition from mass-transfer-controlled mechanisms. These findings establish CMP as a scalable surface-engineering approach for mitigating flow-induced corrosion in pipeline environments.
SN - 2045-2322
ER -