Corrosion behavior of particle reinforced aluminum composites

Abstract

Abstract In the study, the corrosion behavior of aluminum matrix composites reinforced with boron carbide (B4C), silicon carbide (SiC) and alumina (Al2O3) were investigated in saltwater (3.5 % NaCl). Composite materials were produced by powder metallurgy. For composite materials production, various reinforcement and aluminum powders were mixed by mechanical alloying for 4 and 10 hours. After mechanical alloying, mixed powders were compacted under 700 MPa pressure and sintered at 600 °C. Electrochemical corrosion tests were applied on specimens in the saltwater solution using potentiodynamic methods. According to the results of the investigation, the best corrosion resistance was obtained by aluminum/B4C and the lowest by aluminum/Al2O3 composites.