Abstract
In this paper, the effect of rare earth Ce on the corrosion resistance of Al-20SiC composites treated with high-current pulsed electron beams is investigated, and the corresponding corrosion mechanism is proposed. The scanning electron microscope (SEM) results show that cracks arise on the surface of Al-20SiC composites prepared by pressureless sintering. After electron beam treatment, the pores on the surface are reduced because of the filling of Al liquid. After adding CeO2 to Al-20SiC composites, the wettability between Al and SiC phases is improved, thus realizing metallurgical bonding of the two phases, and microcracks generated after HCPEB treatment are significantly eliminated. Glancing X-ray diffraction (GIXRD) results show that after electron beam treatment, aluminum grains tend to grow more favorably with the stable and dense crystal plane of Al(111), thus improving corrosion resistance. The electrochemical test results show that the corrosion current density decreases by one order of magnitude with increase in the number of pulses because of rare earth Ce compared to the initial Al-20SiC composite specimens, indicating that the corrosion resistance of the Al-20SiC-0.3CeO2 composite is improved. This is because rare earth not only eliminates microcracks, but also changes the type of corrosion from localized to uniform, thus improving corrosion resistance. The Al-based composite material modified by electron beam and rare earth has many potential applications and development prospects.
Highlights
Al-SiC composite material, a type of Al-based composite material, has low density, high specific strength, excellent thermal conductivity, and dimensional stability characteristics
Because rare earths are beneficial elements, they can significantly eliminate microcracks and pores in the material and improve phase interface bonding this study focuses on the micro-structure changes of Al-20SiC-0.3CeO2 composites before and after high-current pulsed electron beam technology (HCPEB) irradiation and the effect of rare earth Ce on the electrochemical corrosion resistance of materials
For the Al-20SiC composite material, the corrosion current density of the Al-20SiC metal surface treated by HCPEB increased by one order of magnitude compared to the current density of the untreated material, which shows that the corrosion resistance of the material surface is reduced after electron beam treatment (25 pulses, 1.691 × 10−4 μA cm−2 ; initial sample, 7.652 × 10−5 μA cm−2 )
Summary
Al-SiC composite material, a type of Al-based composite material, has low density, high specific strength, excellent thermal conductivity, and dimensional stability characteristics. Hutsaylyuk reported that in recent decades, electron beam processing technology has been widely used for surface modification of pure metals and their alloys This technology has significantly improved the surface properties of materials, shows new potential applications, and is promoted for industrial applications [23]. Based on a related report, Cu-Cr alloys treated with high-current pulsed electron beam treatment prepared with the powder metallurgy technique produce fine-grained micro-structures, with excellent surface properties [24]. Because rare earths are beneficial elements, they can significantly eliminate microcracks and pores in the material and improve phase interface bonding this study focuses on the micro-structure changes of Al-20SiC-0.3CeO2 composites before and after HCPEB irradiation and the effect of rare earth Ce on the electrochemical corrosion resistance of materials
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