Effects of dry/wet ratio and pre-immersion on stress corrosion cracking of 7050-T7451 aluminum alloy under wet-dry cyclic conditions

The stress corrosion cracking (SCC) behavior and mechanism of 7050-T7451 aluminum alloy under wet-dry cyclic conditions were investigated. Slow strain rate tests (SSRTs) and electrochemical tests were used to study the effects of dry/wet ratio (DWR) and pre-immersion on SCC. Fracture and side surface characterizations were observed by scanning electron microscopy (SEM). The results demonstrate that SCC susceptibility decreases with an increase of the DWR. With an increase of the pre-immersion time, both continuous pre-immersion (CP) and wet-dry cyclic pre-immersion (WDP) samples are more sensitive to SCC, and the cracking mode in the SCC fracture region is intergranular. Furthermore, the effect of WDP on SCC is greater than that of CP when the total time immersed in solution before an SSRT is the same with each other. In fact, each single wet-dry cycle can be divided into three processes with respect to the change of solution on samples’ surface. Volatilization of water on the surface results in an increase in solute concentration, thus accelerating corrosion.