Effect of Flow Rate on Erosion Corrosion Damage and Damage Mechanism of Al5083-H321 Aluminum Alloy in Seawater Environment

Abstract

In this study, erosion tests and erosion-corrosion tests of Al5083-H321 aluminum alloy were conducted at various flow rates in seawater. The erosion tests were conducted at a flow rate of 0 to 20 m/s, and erosion-corrosion tests were performed by potentiodynamic polarization method at the same flow rate. Characteristic evaluation after the erosion test was conducted by surface analysis. Characteristic evaluation after the erosion-corrosion test was performed by Tafel extrapolation and surface analysis. The results of the surface analysis after the erosion test showed that surface damage tended to increase as the flow rate increased. In particular, intermetallic particles were separated due to the breakdown of the oxide film at 10 m/s or more. In the erosion-corrosion test, the corrosion current density increased as the flow rate increased. Additionally, the surface analysis showed that surface damage occurred in a vortex shape and the width of the surface damage tended to increase as the flow rate increased. Moreover, damage at 0 m/s, proceeded in a depth direction due to the growth of pitting corrosion, and the damaged area tended to increase due to acceleration of the intermetallic particle loss by the fluid impact.