Localized Corrosion and Stress Corrosion Cracking Behavior of AA7003 in a 3.5 wt% NaCl Aqueous Solution

Abstract

The microstructure, localized corrosion (LC) and stress corrosion cracking (SCC) behavior of 7003 aluminum alloy (AA7003) under various aging treatments (peak aging (PA), double peak aging (DPA), regression and re-aging (RRA)) were investigated by means of transmission electron microscope (TEM), scanning electron microscopy (SEM), electrochemical impendence spectroscopy (EIS) and slow strain rate tensile test. The results of TEM showed a discontinuous distribution of grain boundary precipitates of AA7003 under DPA and RRA treatments, which is beneficial for increasing the resistance of LC and SCC. Meanwhile, LC was found initiating firstly on intermetallics which caused the dissolution of surrounding matrix, then pitting holes were formed and developed into matrix. In addition, the SCC process of AA7003 could be divided into two stages, i e, initial pre-cracking and breeding cracking. The EIS analysis, cross-section morphologies and fracture surfaces of specimens indicated that DPA and RRA treatments significantly decreased the crack growth rate during breeding cracking stage, especially for RRA treatment.

Keywords

7003 aluminum alloy / localized corrosion / stress corrosion cracking