Identifying stable pitting pathways in 316 L stainless steel via fractal-inspired PCA-based clustering

Abstract This study introduces a fractal-inspired PCA-based framework to distinguish stable pitting pathways in 316 L stainless steel in chloride media. By transforming potentiodynamic polarisation data into a Mandelbrot space, the approach reveals two distinct scenarios of stable pitting growth: di...

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Main Authors: Leonardo Bertolucci Coelho, Thibaut Amand, Daniel Torres, Marjorie Olivier, Jon Ustarroz
Format: Article
Language:English
Published: Nature Portfolio 2025-05-01
Series:npj Materials Degradation
Online Access:https://doi.org/10.1038/s41529-025-00594-7
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author Leonardo Bertolucci Coelho
Thibaut Amand
Daniel Torres
Marjorie Olivier
Jon Ustarroz
author_facet Leonardo Bertolucci Coelho
Thibaut Amand
Daniel Torres
Marjorie Olivier
Jon Ustarroz
author_sort Leonardo Bertolucci Coelho
collection DOAJ
description Abstract This study introduces a fractal-inspired PCA-based framework to distinguish stable pitting pathways in 316 L stainless steel in chloride media. By transforming potentiodynamic polarisation data into a Mandelbrot space, the approach reveals two distinct scenarios of stable pitting growth: directly following passivity breakdown (case I) and preceded by metastable activity (case II). Clustering identifies critical pitting potentials (E_pit and E_sp) with high accuracy, effectively capturing rare metastability-driven events often overlooked in traditional analyses. The method demonstrates robust performance across varying chloride concentrations, with classification metrics highlighting its ability to detect low-frequency E_sp events. Results show that metastability-driven stable pitting (case II) occurs at higher activity levels and potentially at lower potentials. This work advances the understanding of the probabilistic nature of pitting and provides a scalable, data-driven strategy for predicting stable growth regimes.
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spelling doaj-art-cd7cb327dd634aa3b976573c71a972e12025-08-20T02:25:08ZengNature Portfolionpj Materials Degradation2397-21062025-05-019111210.1038/s41529-025-00594-7Identifying stable pitting pathways in 316 L stainless steel via fractal-inspired PCA-based clusteringLeonardo Bertolucci Coelho0Thibaut Amand1Daniel Torres2Marjorie Olivier3Jon Ustarroz4ChemSIN – Chemistry of Surfaces, Interfaces and Nanomaterials, Université libre de Bruxelles (ULB)Materials Science Department, Faculty of Engineering, Place du Parc, University of Mons-UMONS, 20ChemSIN – Chemistry of Surfaces, Interfaces and Nanomaterials, Université libre de Bruxelles (ULB)Materials Science Department, Faculty of Engineering, Place du Parc, University of Mons-UMONS, 20ChemSIN – Chemistry of Surfaces, Interfaces and Nanomaterials, Université libre de Bruxelles (ULB)Abstract This study introduces a fractal-inspired PCA-based framework to distinguish stable pitting pathways in 316 L stainless steel in chloride media. By transforming potentiodynamic polarisation data into a Mandelbrot space, the approach reveals two distinct scenarios of stable pitting growth: directly following passivity breakdown (case I) and preceded by metastable activity (case II). Clustering identifies critical pitting potentials (E_pit and E_sp) with high accuracy, effectively capturing rare metastability-driven events often overlooked in traditional analyses. The method demonstrates robust performance across varying chloride concentrations, with classification metrics highlighting its ability to detect low-frequency E_sp events. Results show that metastability-driven stable pitting (case II) occurs at higher activity levels and potentially at lower potentials. This work advances the understanding of the probabilistic nature of pitting and provides a scalable, data-driven strategy for predicting stable growth regimes.https://doi.org/10.1038/s41529-025-00594-7
spellingShingle Leonardo Bertolucci Coelho
Thibaut Amand
Daniel Torres
Marjorie Olivier
Jon Ustarroz
Identifying stable pitting pathways in 316 L stainless steel via fractal-inspired PCA-based clustering
npj Materials Degradation
title Identifying stable pitting pathways in 316 L stainless steel via fractal-inspired PCA-based clustering
title_full Identifying stable pitting pathways in 316 L stainless steel via fractal-inspired PCA-based clustering
title_fullStr Identifying stable pitting pathways in 316 L stainless steel via fractal-inspired PCA-based clustering
title_full_unstemmed Identifying stable pitting pathways in 316 L stainless steel via fractal-inspired PCA-based clustering
title_short Identifying stable pitting pathways in 316 L stainless steel via fractal-inspired PCA-based clustering
title_sort identifying stable pitting pathways in 316 l stainless steel via fractal inspired pca based clustering
url https://doi.org/10.1038/s41529-025-00594-7
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