Corrosion and Mechanical Behaviors of Cu-35%Zn Alloy Prepared by Equal Channel Angular Pressing (ECAP)

Abstract

Effect of equal-channel angular pressing (ECAP) on the corrosion and mechanical properties of Cu-35%Zn alloy were studied. Two types of feed direction were selected. One is parallel pass and the other is 180°degree rotated ECAP pass after each pass. Both ECAP passes made texture in each specimen in which shear band with 45 degree on transverse direction and twins exist. The specimen prepared by parallel ECAP pass has finer shear band. Relative amount of twins to shear band on the microstructure becomes decrease with number of ECAP pass. Microhardness increased from 75 Hv to 210 Hv by ECAP. The corrosion potential and rate of the ECAPed Cu-35%Zn alloys in aerated aqueous 1 M-H2SO4 solution were –92.3 mVSHE and 3.72x10-2 A/cm2 for route- A and –38.6 mVSHE and 5.08x10-2 A/cm2 for route-C, respectively. The corrosion potential and rate of depended on the feed direction and number of pass.