Steels are abundantly used in many areas because of their good formability and low price. Steels suffer from corrosion in aqueous environments with chloride ions. Corrosion of steels is also a serious problem for long-term usage of steel structures such as bridges and buildings. There are many studies focused on chloride ions. There are reports that metal cations have a tendency to inhibit the corrosion of steels in a chloride aqueous environment by forming a layer on the steel.

The other important factor for corrosion of steels in an aqueous environment is temperature. The corrosion rate of metal in cold regions is expected to slow because of low temperature. A recent study on atmospheric exposure tests carried out in different places in Hokkaido, it has elucidated that the corrosion rate in the cold region is the same as in the warm region.

However, it is not fully elucidated that temperature, especially below freezing point, and metal cations on corrosion behavior and distribution of active dissolution site. The purpose of this study is to investigate the influence of temperature and metal cations on thecorrosion behavior of steels.

Steel sheets of 15 x 20 mm and 20 x 20 mm were used as specimens. Three solutions of 0.1 mM ZnCl₂, 0.5 mM ZnCl₂ and 1.0 mM ZnCl₂ were used for examination of the effect of metal cations, and 20 mass % NaCl solution was used for examination of effect of temperature. After the tests, the morphology of specimens was examined by optical microscope and scanning electron microscope.

After the wet/dry corrosion tests used 10 mL solutions droplets, corrosion products were formed on the specimens. The corrosion processes under NaCl and MgCl₂ were similar. Yellow corrosion products were firstly observed in the solution during the wet period. In the case of under ZnCl₂, after the formation of oxide layer on the specimens the corrosion proceeded in localized areas. The color of almost half area of the exposed surface was light, which might indicate less corrosion occurred in the area. The initial corrosion stage of steel preferred to form a brown area in the center of the droplet. There are no similar corrosion products thatcan be observed in comparison to the samples under MgCl₂ and NaCl solutions.

A lot of corrosion products and localized corroded areas were formed on specimens after being immersed at 273 K, while less corrosion products and homogenously corroded surface were observed on specimens after being immersed at 293K.

The results indicated that corrosion morphology and preferentially corroded area were changed with the kind of metal cation and temperature.