Materials Science Forum, Vol.503-504, 487-492, 2006
Effect of equal-channel angular pressing on the pitting corrosion resistance of Al alloy
The effect of equal-channel angular pressing (ECAP) on the pitting corrosion resistance of Al and Al-Mg alloy was investigated by means of polarization curves in solutions containing 300 ppm of Cl- and by surface analysis. The potentials for pitting corrosion of Al and Al-Mg alloy were evidently shifted to the noble direction by using the ECAP process, indicating that this process improves resistance to pitting corrosion. This increase in resistance seems to be attributable to the increase in formation rate of Al oxide films due to the increase in grain boundary with ECAP. The pitting corrosion resistance of Al and Al-Mg alloy anodized galvanostatically in H2SO4 solution after ECAP was also investigated using electrochemical techniques. The pitting corrosion resistance of Al and Al-Mg alloy was remarkably improved by anodizing. However, the pitting corrosion resistance of anodized Al-Mg alloy was better without ECAP than with ECAP.