Effect of Precipitation Hardening on Corrosion Resistance of Cu-4.5 wt.%Ti

Abstract

Cu-Ti alloys are one of the main candidates to act as a substitute for Cu-Be alloys due to their more environmentally friendly nature. Cu-Ti alloys are age hardenable alloys, and their treatments can modify their microstructure, causing the formation of various Cu-Ti intermetallic that can strongly influence both the mechanical and corrosion properties. In this work, the effect of homogenization heat treatment at 1173 K followed by aging at 723 K for different times (0–24 h) on the microstructure, corrosion and mechanical properties of Cu-4.5 wt.%Ti alloy was investigated. Moreover, the corrosion mechanism based on the different kinetics for the formation of the protective oxide layer was studied. The microstructure and phase analyses were analyzed with SEM and XRD. The mechanical properties were investigated by microhardness test, whereas the corrosion properties were studied by potentiodynamic anodic polarization and potentiostatic tests in artificial sweat. The results showed that the cast sample had the highest corrosion resistance, and the mechanical properties decrease with the homogenization treatment and increase after the combination of homogenization and aging. A corrosion mechanism correlated to the amount and type of intermetallic material was proposed.