Comparative Study on the Corrosion Resistance of 6061Al and SiC_3D/6061Al Composite in a Chloride Environment

Interface problems and the destruction of the continuity of the oxide film in the Al matrix usually reduce the corrosion resistance of the material. In this paper, the corrosion resistance of Al matrix composites (AMCs) was improved by introducing the silicon carbide skeletons (SiC_3D) obtained with polymer replica technology. SiC_3D/6061Al was fabricated by infiltrating molten 6061Al alloy in the oxidized SiC_3D using the low-pressure casting method. The corrosion resistance performances of 6061Al and SiC_3D/6061Al in NaCl solution were studied by electrochemical, neutral salt spray corrosion (NSS), and salt leaching (SL) tests. Results show corrosion resistance of SiC_3D/6061Al is higher than that of 6061Al alloys by open circuit potential (OCP), potentio-dynamic polarization (PDP), and electrochemical impedance spectroscopy (EIS) tests. However, NSS and SL tests show the corrosion resistance of SiC_3D/6061Al is lower than that of 6061Al alloy. The reason is a corrosion resistant and anti-oxidation network macrostructure with large interface recombination, few concentrated interfaces, and a small specific area that formed in SiC_3D/6061Al. SiC_3D cannot damage the continuity of the Al₂O₃ passivating film, and the network macrostructure greatly improves the corrosion resistance performance.