Corrosion Behaviour of In Situ AlxNiy Reinforced AA6061 Composite

Abstract

In-situ AlxNiy reinforced aluminium matrix composites (AMCs) were produced by stir-casting route by adding 5, 10 and 15 weight percentage (wt.%) of Ni to AA6061 aluminum alloy. The density, porosity, microstructure, hardness and corrosion behaviour of the as-cast AMCs was studied and compared with that of the as-cast AA6061 alloy. The porosity in all the castings was found to be less than 0.1%. Further, the porosity was found to decrease with increase in Ni addition. Optical microscopy studies showed that in-situ formed AlxNiy was distributed along the dendritic arms. The distribution became non-homogeneous and coarse with increase in AlxNiy content. The coarse distribution of AlxNiy in the AA6061 matrix also resulted in the decrease in hardness of the composite, after an initial increase in hardness till 10 wt.% Ni addition. The open circuit potential (OCP) and corrosion potential (Ecorr) of the AMCs with 5, 10 and 15 wt. of % Ni addition was noble than that of the AA6061 alloy. This was understood to be due to the presence of AlxNiy intermetallic which is known to have a noble corrosion potential than the aluminium alloy. However, the corrosion current (icorr) increased while the polarization resistance (Rp) decreased with increase in Ni addition in the AMC. This indicates that the coarse non-homogeneous distribution of in-situ AlxNiy had a detrimental effect on the corrosion performance of the AMCs.