Understanding stress corrosion cracking behavior of 7085-T7651 aluminum alloy in polluted atmosphere

The electrochemical and Stress Corrosion Cracking (SCC) behaviors of 7085-T7651 aluminum alloy in different environments are studied by electrochemical and mechanical testing. The research shows that the type, concentration of the corrosive medium and electrolyte state affect the electrochemical and SCC controlling processes of aluminum alloys. The Thin Electrolyte Layer (TEL) state and the addition of HSO₃^– increase the corrosion rate and SCC susceptibility. The presence of HSO₃^– in a corrosive environment can significantly accelerate the corrosion rate and mechanical property degradation, and this effect increases with the increase of HSO₃^– concentration. Compared with the solution environment, the TEL environment will further aggravate corrosion and mechanical property degradation. With the increase of HSO₃^– concentration, the pH of the corrosive environment exhibits little change, while the SCC degradation is significantly promoted. This is attributed to the HSO₃^– induced buffer effect and film-assisted stress effect, yielding the overshadowing effect against solution pH.     

Stress corrosion behavior of 2195-T8 Al-Li alloy with an artificial pit exposed to a 30vol% HNO3 solution

This paper experimentally studied the stress corrosion behavior of 2195-T8 Al-Li alloys with prefabricated pits in 30vol% HNO₃. The microstructure was observed and determined by the scanning electron microscopy and the transmission electron microscopy. The typical corrosion features, i.e., regular or irregular corrosion pits and sub/intergranular corrosion, were investigated, and the role of stress were analyzed. The statistical results of the number and area of corrosion pits in various sizes were studied using an improved image processing method. Experimental results demonstrate that stress affects the intergranular corrosion or sub-intergranular corrosion of the alloy most, and promotes them to evolve into cracks under stress corrosion. Stress also plays a role in accelerating corrosion severity of certain corrosion feature. The number of corrosion pits with an area of 0–50 μm² can be seen as an index to reflect the degree of corrosion. Besides, a corrosion phenomenon, i.e., the pit bottom in the site with the maximum stress locally suffering from no severe corrosion, was observed and discussed.