Improvement of strength and corrosion resistance of aluminum alloys by steam process

2017 Fiscal Year Final Research Report

• Project/Area Number: 15K18237
• Research Category: Grant-in-Aid for Young Scientists (B)
• Allocation Type: Multi-year Fund
• Research Field: Structural/Functional materials
• Research Institution: Shibaura Institute of Technology
• Principal Investigator: Serizawa Ai 芝浦工業大学, 工学部, 准教授 (90509374)
• Project Period (FY): 2015-04-01 – 2018-03-31
• Keywords: 構造材料 / 機能材料 / 組織制御

Outline of Final Research Achievements

Al alloys offer excellent mechanical properties, however, their low corrosion resistance has restricted their application in corrosive environments. There is a need, therefore, for a novel coating technology that is capable of improving the corrosion resistance of Al alloys. In the present study, we examined a steam process of forming a corrosion-resistant film on Al alloys. Al-Mg-Si and Al-Zn-Mg alloys were used as the substrate. FE-SEM images of the film surfaces showed that plate-like AlO(OH) nanocrystals were densely formed over the entire surface. The potentiodynamic polarization curves revealed that the corrosion current density of the film-coated substrates significantly decreased, and that the pitting corrosion was completely suppressed. The microhardness tests revealed that the hardness was significantly improved by applying the steam process. Thus, both the corrosion resistance and the hardness of the Al alloys were simultaneously improved by means of steam process.

Free Research Field

組織制御学