Corrosion Resistance of the Ceramic Coating Formed by Micro-Plasma Arc Oxidation on AZ91D Alloy

Abstract

The ceramic coating was formed by micro-plasma arc oxidation (MPAO) on AZ91D magnesium alloy. The surface and section morphology of coatings were observed using scanning electron microscopy. The phase composition of coatings was analyzed by X-ray diffraction. The method of salt fog experimental was carried out to proof-test performances of anti-corrosion of material. The results showed that the ceramic coating was composed by loose layer and compact layer. The coating surface has a large number of grains with various sizes. In addition, there is also a lot of pore in the loose layer, but the compact layer is tighter than the loose layer. Compact layer has a good combination with substrate magnesium alloy. The MPAO coating is mainly composed of silica oxide (MgAl2Si3O12 and β-Mg2SiO4 and (Mg4Al14) (Al4Si2)O20) and composite oxide of Mg and Al (δ-MgAl28O4). The performance of resistant corrosion of AZ91D coved by ceramic coating is higher than AZ91D magnesium alloy. The corrosion ratio of AZ91D alloy coved by ceramic coatings to AZ91D alloy is 1:8.61.