Review: Corrosion Resistance Performance of Severely Plastic Deformed Aluminium Based Alloys via Different Processing Routes

Aluminium (Al) alloys are known for their high strength and good ductility, making them materials of choice in many aerospace and transport industries. However, they tend to yield to failure in practice as a result of localized corrosion including stress corrosion cracking, exfoliation corrosion, intergranular corrosion, and pitting corrosion. The formation of gradient-structured layers through several severe plastic deformation methods and heat treatments/coatings are the leading possible means of addressing their present shortcomings. The present work reviews the practical ways by which the aforementioned localized corrosion in Al alloys can be reduced to the minimum if not totally eradicated. The corrosion properties of severely plastic-deformed Al alloys obtained via different routes including ultrasonic shot peening, equal-channel angular processing, constrained groove pressing, among others, were extensively reviewed and summarized. The corrosion mechanisms as well as the factors responsible for the improvement or deterioration in corrosion resistance of Al alloys after surface modification were discussed, and the prospects and research trends for future developments are summarized.