Effect of equal-channel angular pressing on pitting corrosion resistance of anodized aluminum-copper alloy

The effect of equal-channel angular pressing(ECAP) on the pitting corrosion resistance of anodized Al-Cu alloy was investigated by electrochemical techniques in a solution containing 0.2 mol/L AlCl3 and also by surface analysis.Anodizing was conducted for 20 min at 200 and 400 A/m2 in a solution containing 1.53 mol/L H2SO4 and 0.018 5 mol/L Al2(SO4)3·16H2O at 20 ℃.Anodized Al-Cu alloy was immediately dipped in boiling water for 20 min to seal the micro pores present in anodic oxide films.The time required before initiating pitting corrosion of anodized Al-Cu alloy is longer with ECAP than without,indicating that ECAP process improves the pitting corrosion resistance of anodized Al-Cu alloy.Second phase precipitates such as Si,Al-Cu-Mg and Al-Cu-Si-Fe-Mn intermetallic compounds are present in Al-Cu alloy and the size of these precipitates is greatly decreased by application of ECAP.Al-Cu-Mg intermetallic compounds are dissolved during anodization,whereas the precipitates composed of Si and Al-Cu-Si-Fe-Mn remain in anodic oxide films due to their more noble corrosion potential than Al.FE-SEM and EPMA observation reveal that the pitting corrosion of anodized Al-Cu alloy occurs preferentially around Al-Cu-Si-Fe-Mn intermetallic compounds,since the anodic oxide films are absent at the boundary between the normal oxide films and these impurity precipitates.The improvement of pitting corrosion resistance of anodized Al-Cu alloy processed by ECAP appears to be attributed to a decrease in the size of precipitates,which act as origins of pitting corrosion.