Correlation of Acoustic Emission and Corrosion Resistance of Lacquer Coatings on Tin-Free Steel

Abstract

Acoustic emission (AE) is a non-destructive technique which is well known for crack monitoring. Moreover, it has been widely used for corrosion and erosion damage on metallic structures. In this study, AE technique was applied for quick monitoring of corrosion resistance of lacquer coatings on tin free steel and laminated steel for food can-packaging. There were three types of coatings: (A) BPA-NI lacquer, (B) BPA-complied lacquer, and (C) PET lamination. These coatings were investigated in flat-sheet and in deformed sheet. Cathodic disbonding (CD) technique was carried out to cause separation between the coating and the metal substrate and initialize corrosion damage. AE signals was detected immediately with potential excitation, and showed good correlation with coating corrosion resistance during corrosion development. AE count signal matched with resulting current during CD, and proportional to corroded areas. In addition, coatings properties were measured before and after the CD process by electrochemical impedance spectroscopy (EIS). A combination of AE and CD techniques offers an in-situ non-destructive corrosion monitoring of coating quality before and during delamination development, and useful for can-packaging testing.