Study on filiform corrosion of A356 aluminum alloy under an organic coating

Abstract

Due to its excellent performance, aluminum alloys are frequently used in wheels, but the corrosion of aluminum alloy wheels is still a major problem to be further studied. To understand the corrosion of wheels, it is important to consider the role of the organic coating in the corrosion process. Meanwhile, it is also meaningful to find an effective method to remove the organic coating properly to investigate the corrosion products under the organic coating. In this paper, the corrosion status of the A356 aluminum alloy substrate under an organic coating was observed firstly; lipid solutions such as NMP solution and butyl acrylate solution were used to remove the coating, and comparative experiments were carried out by controlling factors such as the soaking temperature, time, composition of solution etc. To find out the optimized soaking method to remove the organic coating; finally, the morphology of the localized corrosion on the aluminum alloy surface and the composition and structure of the corrosion products on the aluminum alloy substrate were analyzed. Results show that the corrosion products mainly contain ZrO2, Zr3O2F8, AlO(OH), and Al2O3. The corrosion process prefers to initiate at the defects where the coating and the substrate are not tightly bonded. This work shows the corrosion behavior of the aluminum alloy under an organic coating and provides a useful method to remove the organic coating from the aluminum alloy substrate effectively, and the results can be valuable for the understanding and mitigation of metal corrosion under an organic coating.