Influence of corrosion and creep on intergranular fatigue crack path in 2XXX aluminium alloys

In this paper, two examples of the influence of time-dependent processes on crack path in two 2XXX aluminium alloys are presented. The first example is concerned with corrosion–fatigue crack growth resistance of a 2024 T351 alloy cracked in the S–L direction in 3.5% NaCl solution at free corrosion potential. The second example deals with the elevated temperature crack growth resistance of a 2650 T6 alloy that might be used in future supersonic aircraft fuselage panels. The common idea is to correlate quantitative measurements of relevant fractographic features of crack path to the effects of time-dependent processes on crack growth rates

Empirical propagation laws of intergranular corrosion defects affecting 2024 T351 alloy in chloride solutions

In the present work, a first attempt was made to determine propagation laws of intergranular corrosion defects for Al 2024 T351 in various NaCl solutions as a first step for future predictive modeling of 2024 alloy. In a first step, the effect of chloride concentration on the susceptibility to intergranular corrosion of 2024 alloy was studied using current–potential curves. In a second step, conventional immersion tests were performed in chloride-containing solutions and statistical analysis was carried out to determine the depth of the intergranular corrosion defects, depending on the chloride concentration and on the immersion time. The results were compared to those obtained by measuring the load to failure of precorroded tensile specimens versus preimmersion time in a chloride solution. The latter method was selected to measure the depth of the intergranular defects even though results showed that it was not possible to use it for chloride concentrations higher than 3 M and immersion times longer than 1200 h, considering the chloride concentrations and the durations of immersion studied in this work. Thus, empirical propagation laws are proposed for chloride contents as high as 3 M and immersion times as long as 1200 h

Hydrogen embrittlement susceptibility of a high strength steel X80

The present paper deals with hydrogen embrittlement (HE) susceptibility of a high strength steel grade (X80). The respective implication of different hydrogen populations, i.e. adsorbed, dissolved in interstitial sites, trapped on dislocations and/or microstructural elements on the associated embrittlement mechanisms has been addressed through mechanical testing in high pressure of hydrogen gas at room temperature. Tensile tests at various strain rates and hydrogen pressures have been carried out. Moreover, changes of gas (hydrogen or nitrogen) during loading have been imposed in order to get critical experiments able to discriminate among the potential hydrogen embrittlement mechanisms already proposed in the literature. The results of these tests have shown that hydrogen induces several kind of damages including decohesion along ferrite/pearlite interfaces and microcracks initiations on the specimens external surface. It is shown that decohesion is not critical under the loading paths used in the present study. On the contrary, it appears that the external microcracks initiation, followed by a quasi-cleavage fracture, is responsible for the premature failure of the material in high pressure of hydrogen gas. These experimental results have been further discussed by modeling hydrogen diffusion in order to identify hydrogen populations (adsorbed, diffusible or trapped) involved in HE. It was then demonstrated that adsorbed and near surface diffusible hydrogen are mainly responsible for embrittlement

Combined Kelvin probe force microscopy and secondary ion mass spectrometry for hydrogen detection in corroded 2024 aluminium alloy

The capability of Kelvin probe force microscopy (KFM) to detect and locate hydrogen in corroded 2024 aluminium alloy was demonstrated. Hydrogen was introduced inside the 2024 alloy following a cyclic corrosion test consisting of cycles of immersion in 1 M NaCl solution followed by exposure to air at -20 °C. The combination of scanning electron microscopy, secondary ion mass spectrometry and KFM demonstrated that the grain and subgrain boundaries were preferential pathways for the short-circuit diffusion of hydrogen but also acted as a source of hydrogen diffusion in the lattice over distances of up to ten microns with non-negligible desorption when exposed to air at room temperature for 24 h

Investigation of Kelvin probe force microscopy efficiency for the detection of hydrogen ingress by cathodic charging in an aluminium alloy

Detecting and locating absorbed hydrogen in aluminium alloys is necessary for evaluating the contribution of hydrogen embrittlement to the degradation of the mechanical properties for corroded or cathodically hydrogen-charged samples. The capability of Kelvin probe force microscopy (KFM) to overcome this issue was demonstrated. Aluminium alloy samples were hydrogenated by cathodic polarisation in molten salts (KHSO4/NaHSO4.H2O). The presence of absorbed hydrogen was revealed; the affected zone depth was measured by secondary ion mass spectroscopy (SIMS) analyses and KFM measurements

Corrosion Damages Induced by Cyclic Exposure of 2024 Aluminum Alloy in Chloride-Containing Environments

This paper focuses on the influence of cyclic exposure to chloride solutions on corrosion damage morphology developed on AA2024. The influence of the temperature during the air exposure periods was studied. Cyclic corrosion tests led to enhanced global corrosion damage compared to continuous immersion tests with residual mechanical properties of corroded samples significantly lower for cyclic tests. The corrosion morphology depended on the exposure conditions. For cyclic tests with air exposure periods at room temperature (CR tests), the corrosion defects were significantly longer; for a cyclic test with air exposure periodsat -20 °C (CF tests), the propagation of corrosion defects was not promoted; however, the density of corroded grain boundaries was markedly increased. For CR samples, the corrosion damage observed was mainly explained taking into account electrochemical processes occurring at the tip of the defect which could be considered as an occluded zone characterized by a chloride-enriched electrolyte and Hþ reduction as major cathodic reaction. For CF tests, the interaction between the stresses induced by the phase transformation of the medium i.e solidification and the hydrogen enrichment of the substrate could be a possible mechanism explaining the evolution of the global mechanical properties of the corroded sample

Effect of the microstructure and environmental exposure conditions on the corrosion behaviour of the 2050 alloy

Alternate immersion-emersion tests were performed for a 2050 aluminium alloy to characterize its corrosion resistance with exposure conditions representative of in serviceconditions. Tests were performed for T34 samples and aged samples. After continuous immersion tests, T34 samples exhibited intergranular corrosion while intragranular corrosion was observed for aged samples. The alternate immersion-emersion tests led to a corrosion extension to the subgrain boundaries, for both T34 and aged samples, as shown by electron backscattered diffraction analysis

Propagation of Intergranular Corrosion Defects in AA 2024-T351 Evaluated by a Decrease in Mechanical Resistance

This study deals with propagation kinetics of intergranular corrosion defects. It complements previous works focused on the development of a procedure called “T2C (Tensile Test for Corrosion).” This procedure was previously applied on samples of 2024 alloy submitted to a continuous immersion test in 1 M NaCl solution. The aim of the present study was to determine if a modification in the way in which the samples are corroded impacts the ability to use this procedure. Therefore, the applicability of the T2C procedure to cyclic corrosion tests was evaluated. Intergranular corrosion defects developed during cyclic corrosion tests were characterized by using a statistical approach. The geometry of the tensile specimens was optimized to allow the T2C procedure to be applied in conditions expected as adequate. Results showed that, for cyclic corrosion tests, due to the branched morphology of the intergranular corrosion defects and the effects of hydrogen embrittlement, the T2C procedure cannot provide an estimation of the mean depth of the intergranular corrosion defects. However, depending on the cyclic corrosion tests, it allowed the maximal depth of the intergranular corrosion defects or the thickness of the corrosion-induced damage zone (defects+hydrogen affected zone) to be determined

Corrosion-fatigue lifetime of Aluminium–Copper–Lithium alloy 2050 in chloride solution

The fatigue behaviour of Aluminium–Copper–Lithium 2050 alloy under two metallurgical states (T34 and T84) was studied in air for healthy and pre-corroded samples in a 0.7 NaCl solution. The results were compared to those obtained during fatigue–corrosion tests performed in a similar chloride medium. Preliminary corrosion tests demonstrated that the T34 metallurgical state was susceptible to intergranular corrosion, while the T84 metallurgical state was susceptible to intragranular corrosion. Fatigue life tests in air on pre-corroded samples revealed a significant decrease in fatigue life related to the presence of corrosion defects before the cyclic solicitation. A strong effect of the first minutes of immersion in corrosive media was evidenced on fatigue life behaviour. The fatigue–corrosion tests revealed that the T34 metallurgical state was more affected by fatigue–corrosion in terms of fatigue life than the T84 metallurgical state. This observation can be explained by the increased propagation of intergranular corrosion enhanced by the cyclic solicitation