- Title
- Metallurgy and Corrosion Resistance of 360 Year Old Cast Iron Pipe from Versailles Palace
- Creator
- Nicholas, D.; Dafter, M.; Chaves, I.; Davies, S.
- Relation
- Corrosion & Pevention. Proceedings of Corrosion and Prevention 2021 (Newcastle 07 June 2022) p. 1-10
- Relation
- https://conference.corrosion.com.au/sessions/metallurgy-and-corrosion-resistance-of-360-year-old-cast-iron-pipe-from-versailles-palace/
- Publisher
- Australasian Corrosion Association
- Resource Type
- conference paper
- Date
- 2022
- Description
- A sample piece from the original cast iron pipe system taken from the Palace of Versailles, France and installed in the 1660’s has been examined and compared with a more recent cast iron water main material dating from the early 20th century. Metallurgical testing showed that the Versailles pipe sample, manufactured from a pre-industrial revolution charcoal blast furnace, was both harder and with a more complex morphology than a ‘modern’ cast iron pipe, and had significant quantities of minor alloying elements that were unknown at the time of manufacture. Corrosion testing was carried out using Electrochemical Impedance Spectroscopy (EIS) in tap water to compare the general corrosion resistance of the Versailles pipe to the 20th century pipe. These results showed that essentially the corrosion rate of both materials was similar, and the minor alloying elements such as vanadium did not improve corrosion resistance. This is essentially the same conclusions as those drawn by Romanoff in 1957 when comparing early 20th century cast irons. It is concluded that soil type, installation techniques and backfill methodologies are more important factors in cast iron pipe longevity than material composition.
- Subject
- cast iron; corrosion; microstructure; Versailles Palace
- Identifier
- http://hdl.handle.net/1959.13/1473172
- Identifier
- uon:48975
- Language
- eng
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