Effect of percentage of reinforcement particulates on the corrosion behaviour of aluminium boron carbide composites

Abstract

Aluminum based composites are generally used to build marine structures and liquid cargo containers because of its high strength and low weight. In the present investigation, the corrosion behaviour of B<sub>4</sub>C particle reinforced Al-6061 alloy has been studied. The aluminumboron carbide composite were prepared using stir casting method by varying percentage of reinforcement from 6 to 12% in steps of 2%. Salt spray method was adopted to investigate the corrosion behaviour of the composite. The test was conducted for a period of 240 hours and for every 48 hours the weight loss of the specimens was measured. The extent of corrosion was measured by using weight loss method. The results showed that the corrosion resistance of the composite decreases with the increase in the percentage of boron carbide particulates. The optical microscope was used to analyze the corroded surfaces and corrosion mechanism. The pit initiation side tends to the possibility of the accuracy corrosion on the interface between the hard reinforced particles and matrix alloy.