Performance of Ceramic Coating of MB3 Magnesium Alloy by Micro-Arc Oxidation

Abstract

Micro-arc oxidation (MAO) method was used for the surface modification of MB3 magnesium alloy. The morphology feature, phase composition, and chemical composition of the formed ceramic coatings were studied by metallographic microscope, scanning electron microscopy (SEM), XRD, respectively. Drop test has been applied to study the corrosion resistance of MB3 Mg alloy with and without micro-arc oxidation treatment. The present result indicates that, through MAO, ceramic coatings were in-situ fabricated on the surface of MB3 Mg alloy, the micro-arc oxidation coating is relatively dense and uniform, maximum thickness is more than 97μm. The dominant phase of the coating is spinal Mg2SiO4 (Forsterite) and dissociative MgO (Periclase). Drop test shows that after oxidation the corrosion resistance of MB3 Mg alloy is greatly improved.