The results of a study of corrosion products composition and morphology during the initial stages of rust formation on low carbon steel was carried out in a tropical humid climate (marine-coastal and rural-urban test sites, located in the Gulf of Mexico, in Southeastern Mexico) are presented. Data obtained in this study, by means of SEM and X-ray diffraction, show that the specifics of the Temperature - Relative Humidity daily complex have a significant influence on y-FeOOH (goethite) and o~-FeOOH (lepidocrocite) phases formation. The SEM reveals several steps in rust morphological evolution. Initially nests of y-FeQOH are formed, characterized by well defined grains, and covered with a membrane, that later breaks and liberates its content. Because of dry and wet daily climatic cycles, they-FeOOH grains lose superficially their crystallinity, and micro crevices and cracks appear in these amorphous zones. The secondary phase o~-FeOOH, usually grows in these crevices, simultaneously with newly formed y-FeOOH grains. Thus, the corrosion product has a multilayer and heterogeneous structure, where crystalline and amorphous films alternate. On the other hand, the rust evolution and its changes are influenced not only by climatic parameters and pollutants, but also by the surface orientation of the metal (angle of exposure and sample site).
Keywords: atmospheric corrosion, tropical climate, low carbon steel, corrosion products, lepidocrocite, goethite, phase transformation