Abstract
The present study investigated the effects of heat treatment by low-temperature annealing and temperature change on the electrochemical properties of aluminium (Al) alloy A6061-T6 in 0.5 M sulphuric acid (H2SO4) solution. Subsequent to heat treatment at five different temperatures of 250 °C, 300 °C, 350 °C, 400 °C, and 500 °C (constant time of 1 h.), the heat-treated Al alloy A6061-T6 samples were subjected to corrosion tests via potentiodynamic polarization techniques at room temperature. Optical microscopy was used for the characterization of the corroded areas for both the control and heat-treated samples. Compared to the control Al alloy A6061-T6 sample with a higher corrosion current density of 391.38 µA/cm2, the Al alloy A6061-T6 samples annealed at 250 °C, 300 °C, 350 °C, 400 °C, and 450 °C possessed a lower corrosion current density of 390.62 µA/cm2, 191.66 µA/cm2, 113.89 µA/cm2, 64.23 µA/cm2, and 60.99 µA/cm2, respectively. The annealed samples are characterized by lower corrosion density as well as the presence of little or no corrosion products and pits. Heat treatment by low-temperature annealing improves the electrochemical properties of Al alloy A6061-T6, and the corrosion resistance increases with increasing annealing temperature.
Original language | English |
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Pages (from-to) | 141–147 |
Number of pages | 7 |
Journal | Journal of The Institution of Engineers (India): Series D |
Volume | 103 |
Issue number | 1 |
Early online date | 31 Jan 2022 |
DOIs | |
Publication status | Published - 2022 |
Keywords
- Al alloy A6061-T6
- Corrosion
- Temperature
- Passivation
- Surface treatment
- Annealing