Hawaii Deep Water Cable Program : phase II-A task 3 deep water electrical cable corrosion testing

Abstract

Phase II-A, Task 3 deep water electrical cable corrosion testing. Initial results from a study of the behavior of some typical and some candidate deep sea cable materials under Hawaiian conditions are presented. The effort is aimed at the development of a database on the corrosion, fatigue, and abrasion of materials in Hawaiian waters. Four components of the study have been initiated: a long-term comparision study of the rates of metallic corrosion in Hawaiian surface waters with rates measured in a wide variety of test sites around the world; a long-term study of the corrosion and macrofouling of cupronickel (Cul0Ni); a study of the crevice corrosion behavior of various high alloy stainless steels which are candidate materials for use as armour wire of the deep sea cable; and a study of the abrasiveness of Hawaiian rock constituents to various stainless steels. The background to each component of the work is discussed as well as the expected differences and similarities between Hawaiian and temperate zone conditions.