Effect of the Thermomechanical History on the Corrosion Behavior of 6101 Aluminum-Magnesium-Silicon-Iron Alloy in NaCl Solutions

Abstract

The effect of cold-working, i.e. cold drawing, and aging treatment on the corrosion behavior of a 6101 aluminum alloy was investigated in NaCl solutions. The 6101 T4 aluminum alloy was found to be susceptible to only pitting corrosion with filaments growing from the pits and propagating into the matrix. A 185°C-10 hours aging treatment led to a shift of the corrosion potential of the 6101 alloy towards more cathodic values and promoted intergranular corrosion. When the 6101 alloy was both cold-drawn and aged, modification of the corrosion potential was still observed and intergranular corrosion was not observed for the cold-drawn samples.