Eight-year atmospheric corrosion tests of A 588B weathering steel were conducted in industrial, marine, and rural environments. The material was tested following two types of heat treatment: (1) quenched-and-tempered to produce a tempered martensite microstructure, and (2) normalized to produce a microstructure comprised of ferrite and pearlite. The results of these tests indicate that these heat treatments have no effect on the corrosion resistance, and that the performance of weathering steels can be estimated solely on the basis of composition.
Keywords: atmospheric, corrosion, heat treatment, quench-and-temper, weathering steel