Characterization and corrosion behavior of composites reinforced with ZK60, AlN, and SiC particles

Abstract

In this paper, microstructure, mechanical, immersion and potentiodynamic corrosion behaviours of extruded ZK60 matrix composites reinforced with forty-five µm 15% silicon carbide (SiC) particles and aluminium nitride nanoparticle (AIN) (0.2–0.5% 760 nm) were investigated. The SiC and AlN mixtures, which are the reinforcing elements of the composites, were first mixed with magnesium powder as the main alloy, then pressed under a pressure of 450 MPa and sintered at 420 °C. Second, the sintered compacts are placed in the ZK60 alloy matrix at the semi-solid melting temperature, and the melt is mixed mechanically. After the melts are mixed for 30 min and a homogeneous mixture is obtained, the mixtures are poured into metal moulds and composite samples are produced. After homogenization for 24 h at 400 °C, the composite samples were extruded at 300 °C with an extrusion ratio of 16:1 and a piston speed of 0.3 mm/s. Then, microstructure characterization of all composite samples was performed and potentiodynamic and immersion corrosion behaviours were analyzed in 3.5% NaCl solution. It was seen that the corrosion resistance increased depending on the percentages of SiC and AlN reinforcement elements in the matrix. As a result, it was seen that the potentiodynamic corrosion resistance of reinforced ZK60 + 15% SiC (ZK60SiC15), ZK60 + 15% SiC + 02AIN (ZK60SiC15AlN0.2) and ZK60 + 15% SiC + 0.5% AIN (ZK60SiC15AlN0.5) compounds increased by 1.6, 1.8 and 3.5 times compared to the unreinforced ZK60 alloy. The immersion corrosion rates were calculated as 2090.73, 1748.19, 1479.84 and 1397.79 (mg/year) for the unreinforced ZK60, ZK60SiC15, ZK60SiC15AlN0.2 and ZK60SiC15AlN0.5 reinforcements, respectively. As a result of the SEM and elemental spectrum response analysis of the corrosion surfaces, the presence of a layer rich in Si-O elements on the surface of the AlN + SiC reinforced composites enhanced corrosion resistance. Additionally, the formation of the Mg2Si intermetallics in the structure of the SiC reinforced composites improved corrosion resistance, according to the XRD results.