Development of high corrosion resistant stainless steels for automotive mufflers based on condensate corrosion test and field investigation

Automotive exhaust gas condensate causes severe corrosion inside mufflers. Corrosive condensate became a problem following the introduction of three-way catalytic converters in exhaust systems. The authors previously established a new laboratory test method that simulates condensate corrosion. This test method contributed to the development of new stainless steels for automotive mufflers. The addition of molybdenum (Mo) and copper (Cu) to ferritic stainless steels was found to be effective in improving condensate corrosion resistance, and the effect was arranged using the index [%chromium (Cr)+3×%Mo+1.5×%Cu]. A field test was carried out to investigate the corrosion behavior of mufflers under actual conditions. Aluminized steels showed severe damage by general corrosion. On the other hand, 19%Cr-Cu ferritic stainless steel exhibited excellent corrosion resistance. The corrosion behavior in the field test showed good agreement with the results of the laboratory test. Based on these results, Type 436L (18%Cr-1.2%Mo) and Type 430J1L (19%Cr-0.5%Cu) stainless steels were developed for muffler materials.