High strength copper-nickel (Cu-Ni-Mn-Al-Nb) alloys are widely used for marine applications due to
their excellent resistance to seawater corrosion, high inherent resistance to biofouling and ease of
fabrication. However, in-service experience has shown that these alloys may encounter variable
performance worldwide due to local environmental conditions. In particular, the corrosion performance
of high strength Cu-Ni alloys may be affected by the seawater environmental factors, which include
biofouling, temperature, salinity, pH and dissolved oxygen content. This study reports an investigation
into the galvanic corrosion performance between two wrought high strength copper-nickel alloys, with
nickel contents of 15 and 19 %, regarding the influence of surface oxide films / deposits and biofouling.
X-ray photoelectron spectroscopy was used to study the composition of the corrosion product films.
Analyses of galvanic currents, coupled and decoupled potentials routinely monitored for seawater
immersion over a period of 2 years are presented.