Effect of Citric Acid Hard Anodizing on the Mechanical Properties and Corrosion Resistance of Different Aluminum Alloys.

Hard anodizing is used to improve the anodic films' mechanical qualities and aluminum alloys' corrosion resistance. Applications for anodic oxide coatings on aluminum alloys include the space environment. In this work, the aluminum alloys 2024-T3 (Al-Cu), 6061-T6 (Al-Mg-Si), and 7075-T6 (Al-Zn) were prepared by hard anodizing electrochemical treatment using citric and sulfur acid baths at different concentrations. The aim of the work is to observe the effect of citric acid on the microstructure of the substrate, the mechanical properties, the corrosion resistance, and the morphology of the hard anodic layers. Hard anodizing was performed on three different aluminum alloys using three citric-sulfuric acid mixtures for 60 min and using current densities of 3.0 and 4.5 A/dm2. Vickers microhardness (HV) measurements and scanning electron microscopy (SEM) were utilized to determine the mechanical characteristics and microstructure of the hard anodizing material, and electrochemical techniques to understand the corrosion kinetics. The result indicates that the aluminum alloy 6061-T6 (Al-Mg-Si) has the maximum hard-coat thickness and hardness. The oxidation of Zn and Mg during the anodizing process found in the 7075-T6 (Al-Zn) alloy promotes oxide formation. Because of the high copper concentration, the oxide layer that forms on the 2024-T6 (Al-Cu) Al alloy has the lowest thickness, hardness, and corrosion resistance. Citric and sulfuric acid solutions can be used to provide hard anodizing in a variety of aluminum alloys that have corrosion resistance and mechanical qualities on par with or better than traditional sulfuric acid anodizing.

Oxidation Kinetics of Ti-6Al-4V Alloys by Conventional and Electron Beam Additive Manufacturing.

New manufacturing processes for metal parts such as additive manufacturing (AM) provide a technological development for the aeronautical and aerospace industries, since these AM processes are a means to reduce the weight of the parts, which generate cost savings. AM techniques such as Laser Powder Bed Fusions (LPBF) and Electron Beam Fusion (EBM), provided an improvement in mechanical properties, corrosion resistance, and thermal stability at temperatures below 400 °C, in comparison to conventional methods. This research aimed to study the oxidation kinetics of Ti-6Al-4V alloys by conventional and Electron Beam Additive Manufacturing. The thermogravimetric analysis was performed at temperatures of 600 °C, 800 °C, and 900 °C, having a heating rate of 25 °C/min and oxidation time of 24 h. The microstructural analysis was carried out by thermogravimetric analysis. Thickness and morphology of oxide layers were analyzed by field emission scanning electron microscope, phase identification (before and after the oxidation process) was realized by X-ray diffraction at room temperature and hardness measurements were made in cross section. Results indicated that the oxidation kinetics of Ti-6Al-4V alloys fabricated by EBM was similar to conventional processing and obeyed a parabolic or quasi-parabolic kinetics. The samples oxidized at 600 °C for 24 h presented the lowest hardness values (from 350 to 470 HV). At oxidation temperatures of 800 and 900 °C, however, highest hardness values (from 870 close to the alpha-case interface up to 300 HV in base metal) were found on the surface and gradually decreased towards the center of the base alloy. This may be explained by different microstructures presented in the manufacturing processes.

A Comparative Study of Corrosion AA6061 and AlSi10Mg Alloys Produced by Extruded and Additive Manufacturing.

The aim of this work was to evaluate the corrosion behavior of the AA6061 and AlSi10Mg alloys produced by extruded and additive manufacturing (selective laser melting, SLM). Alloys were immersed in two electrolytes in H2O and 3.5 wt. % NaCl solutions at room temperature and their corrosion behavior was studied by electrochemical noise technique (EN). Three different methods filtered EN signals, and the statistical analysis was employed to obtain Rn, the localization index (LI), Kurtosis, skew, and the potential spectral density analysis (PSD). The Energy Dispersion Plots (EDP) of wavelets method was employed to determine the type of corrosion and the Hilbert-Huang Transform (HHT), analyzing the Hilbert Spectra. The result indicated that the amplitude of the transients in the time series in potential and current is greater in the AlSi10Mg alloy manufactured by additive manufacturing. The amplitude of the transients decreases in both alloys (AA6061 and AlSi10Mg) as time increases.

Correction: Lara-Banda, M., et al. Alternative to Nitric Acid Passivation of 15-5 and 17-4PH Stainless Steel Using Electrochemical Techniques. Materials 2020, 13, 2836.

The author wishes to make the following correction to this paper [...].

Electrochemical Behavior of Ti6Al4V Alloy Used in Dental Implants Immersed in Streptococcus gordonii and Fusobacterium nucleatum Solutions.

The titanium alloy, Ti6Al4V, is used in dentistry for dental implants because of its excellent resistance to corrosion and its high biocompatibility. However, periimplantitis is considered the main reason for treatment failure. The Ti6Al4V alloy was used to study the corrosion behavior for dental implant applications, using an experimental arrangement of three electrodes with the bacteria Streptococcus gordonii and Fusobacterium nucleatum, in addition to Ringer's lactate as electrolytes, at 37 °C and a pH of 5.6. Their electrochemical behavior was studied by open circuit potential (OCP) and cyclic potentiodynamic polarization (CPP) according to ASTM G3-14 and ASTM G61-11, respectively. Scanning electron microscopy (SEM) was employed to determine the morphology of the alloy studied. An experimental model, in situ, was established with the bacteria present in an oral environment to understand the electrochemical behavior of the alloy used in dental implants. The greatest corrosion in Ti6Al4V alloy was produced by the medium that contained the bacterium Streptococcus gordonii, which is considered a primary colonizer. In addition, the Ti6Al4V alloy presented uniform corrosion in the three solutions at the different exposure times showing a negative hysteresis in CPP.

Alternative to Nitric Acid Passivation of 15-5 and 17-4PH Stainless Steel Using Electrochemical Techniques.

Increasingly stringent environmental regulations in different sectors of industry, especially the aeronautical sector, suggest the need for more investigations regarding the effect of environmentally friendly corrosion protective processes. Passivation is a finishing process that makes stainless steels more rust resistant, removing free iron from the steel surface resulting from machining operations. This results in the formation of a protective oxide layer that is less likely to react with the environment and cause corrosion. The most commonly used passivating agent is nitric acid. However, it is know that high levels of toxicity can be generated by using this agent. In this work, a study has been carried out into the electrochemical behavior of 15-5PH (precipitation hardening) and 17-4PH stainless steels passivated with (a) citric and (b) nitric acid solutions for 60 and 90 min at 49 °C, and subsequently exposed to an environment with chlorides. Two electrochemical techniques were used: electrochemical noise (EN) and potentiodynamic polarization curves (PPC) according to ASTM G199-09 and ASTM G5-13, respectively. The results obtained indicated that, for both types of steel, the passive layer formed in citric acid as passivating solution had very similar characteristics to that formed with nitric acid. Furthermore, after exposure to the chloride-containing solution and according with the localization index (LI) values obtained, the stainless steels passivated in citric acid showed a mixed type of corrosion, whereas the steels passivated in nitric acid showed localized corrosion. Overall, the results of the R n values derived show very low and similar corrosion rates for the stainless steels passivated with both citric and nitric acid solutions.