The stress-corrosion cracking behavior of high-strength aluminum powder metallurgy alloys

Abstract

The susceptibility to stress-corrosion cracking (SCC) of rapidly solidified (RS) aluminum powder metallurgy (P/M) alloys 7090 and 7091, mechanically alloyed aluminum P/M alloy IN* 9052, and ingot metallurgy (I/M) alloys of similar compositions was compared using bolt-loaded double cantilever beam specimens. In addition, the effects of aging, grain size, grain boundary segregation, pre-exposure embrittlement, and loading mode on the SCC of 7091 were independently assessed. Finally, the data generated were used to elucidate the mechanisms of SCC in the three P/M alloys. The IN 9052 had the lowest SCC susceptibility of all alloys tested in the peak-strength condition, although no SCC was observed in the two RS alloys in the overaged condition. The susceptibility of the RS alloys was greater in the underaged than the peak-aged temper. We detected no significant differences in susceptibility of 7091 with grain sizes varying from 2 to 300 μm. Most of the crack advance during SCC of 7091 was by hydrogen embrittlement (HE). Furthermore, both RS alloys were found to be susceptible to preexposure embrittlement—also indicative of HE. The P/M alloys were less susceptible to SCC than the I/M alloys in all but one test.