Delaminated areas beneath organic coating: A local electrochemical impedance approach

Local electrochemical impedance mapping was used to investigate delamination phenomena at the steel/epoxy-vinyl primer interface. The delamination occurred from an artificial defect (cutter scribing) and from ageing in a salt spray chamber. The samples were taken from the salt spray chamber after 20, 30 and 50 days of exposure. To observe delamination after ageing, the corrosion product layers were removed by a cathodic polarization at -1.5 V/SCE for 4 h. A non-aged reference sample was tested for comparison. Mapping was performed at 5 kHz. Initiation and propagation of the delamination were clearly observed. The delaminated surface areas measured by visual observations after the removal of the coating were lower than those determined by local electrochemical impedance mapping. The delamination mechanisms were discussed with reference to literature data.