Corrosion inhibitors are known to adsorb to a variety of corrosion product layers. Under conditions of high shear, the fracture of corrosion product scale is one important aspect affecting corrosion. In this paper, molecular mechanics is used to calculate the Young's Modulus of a ferrous carbonate scale. This information is used with existing theory for the fracture mechanics of corrosion product scales to understand the destruction of corrosion byproduct layers under conditions of high shear.
Keywords: molecular modeling, fracture mechanics, carbon dioxide, quaternary amine, corrosion inhibition, ferrous carbonate, byproduct layer, flow induced corrosion