| Abstract Scope |
Understanding and quantifying corrosion kinetics in engineering alloys remains a critical challenge, particularly for welded or improperly heat-treated steel components, where localized degradation can compromise structural integrity and service life. In this work, we develop a multi-phase-field framework for predicting intergranular corrosion kinetics in welded steel. The model explicitly resolves microstructural features, including grains, grain boundaries, and crystallographic orientations, while coupling them with electrochemical processes in the surrounding electrolyte. Individual grains and interfaces are represented using distinct phase-field variables, enabling microstructure-sensitive simulation of corrosion evolution. The electrolyte is treated as a separate phase, where ionic transport and electric potential are governed by the Nernst–Planck and Poisson equations, respectively. The framework is implemented in MOOSE, an open-source multiphysics platform with parallel computing capabilities. Representative one-, two-, and three-dimensional case studies demonstrate the model’s ability to capture microstructure-dependent corrosion pathways in steel. |