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. 2018 Oct 15;11(10):1982.
doi: 10.3390/ma11101982.

Investigation of Zirconium Effect on the Corrosion Resistance of Aluminum Alloy Using Electrochemical Methods and Numerical Simulation in an Acidified Synthetic Sea Salt Solution

Yong-Sang Kim  1 , Jong Gil Park  2 , Byeong-Seon An  3 , Young Hee Lee  4 , Cheol-Woong Yang  5 , Jung-Gu Kim  6
Affiliations

Investigation of Zirconium Effect on the Corrosion Resistance of Aluminum Alloy Using Electrochemical Methods and Numerical Simulation in an Acidified Synthetic Sea Salt Solution

Yong-Sang Kim et al. Materials (Basel). .

Abstract

Corrosion resistance of Zr that has been added to an Al alloy (U1070) is higher than that of a commercial Al alloy (A1070). A decreasing number and size of Al₃Fe intermetallic particles (IMPs) were observed by electron microprobe analysis and transmission electron microscopy. Based on the numerical corrosion simulation, it was confirmed that decreasing the number and size of IMPs was favorable for improving the corrosion resistance of the Al alloy due to the reduction of the galvanic effect. In addition, Al₃Zr was found to be insignificant in promoting galvanic corrosion within the Al matrix. Thus, Zr is an advantageous alloying element for improving the corrosion resistance of the Al alloy.

Keywords: aluminum alloy; corrosion; intermetallic compound; transmission electron microscopy; zirconium.

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Conflict of interest statement

Yong-Sang Kim and other co-authors have no conflict of interest.

Figures

Figure 1
Figure 1
Boundary conditions for corrosion simulation of intermetallic particles (IMPs) in an aluminum matrix.
Figure 2
Figure 2
IMPs distributed models for corrosion simulation: (a) large size of IMPs in the Al matrix (large IMPs area); (b) small size of IMPs in the Al matrix (large IMPs area); and (c) small size of IMPs in Al matrix (small IMPs area).
Figure 3
Figure 3
(a) Polarization curves and (b) schematic Tafel slope of A1070 and U 1070 in a salt water–acetic acid solution at 47 °C.
Figure 4
Figure 4
Cross-sectional images of (a) A1070 and (b) U1070 after the polarization tests.
Figure 5
Figure 5
Average corrosion penetration depth of A1070 and U1070 specimens after polarization tests.
Figure 6
Figure 6
Nyquist plot of A1070 and U 1070 in a salt water–acetic acid solution at 47 °C.
Figure 7
Figure 7
Equivalent circuit for fitting the EIS results for A1070 and U1070 aluminum alloys in a salt water–acetic acid solution at 47 °C.
Figure 8
Figure 8
Analysis of Al-Fe IMP distribution using field emission electron probe microanalysis (FE-EPMA) mapping: (a) A1070 and (b) U1070.
Figure 9
Figure 9
FE-TEM images and chemical composition of (a) Al-Fe IMP in A1070; (b) Al-Fe and (c) Al-Zr IMPs in U1070.
Figure 10
Figure 10
Size and number of Al–Fe IMPs at 300 μm2 from FE-EPMA and FE-TEM analyzes.
Figure 11
Figure 11
Current distribution of each simulation case; (a) large size of IMPs (large IMPs area)–Al3Fe; (b) small size of IMPs (large IMPs area)–Al3Fe; (c) small size of IMPs (large IMPs area)–Al3Zr; and (d) small size of IMPs (small IMPs area)–Al3Fe.
Figure 12
Figure 12
Total current from the Al matrix in each case of corrosion simulations.
See this image and copyright information in PMC

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