Role(s) of pretreatment, inhibitors, and other process steps that effect surface composition on the under-paint corrosion of an aluminum-copper-magnesium alloy 2024-T3

Under-paint corrosion is a surface corrosion that grows under a coating. The composition of an aluminum alloy, particularly Cu and Fe content, has a direct and dominant effect on the growth rate of filiform corrosion (FFC) and scribe-creep. The Cu and Fe content leads to formation of galvanic cells between intermetallic compounds (IMCs) or replated Cu and the aluminum-rich matrix. However, there is no model which describes scribe-creep behavior and can be used to predict the effect of material and surface pretreatment parameters such as inhibitors, chemical surface pretreatment, and alloy microstructure.; Surface pretreatments and aging which control the amount of surface copper and alter IMC distributions decrease the growth rate of scribe-creep. Scribe-creep was observed to be enhanced by temperature, regardless of surface pretreatment, as well as by artificial aging and surface pretreatments. Scribe-creep was accelerated by pretreatments that increased surface copper or left a high capacity for Cu-replating such as Cu-containing IMCs. Pretreatment was rationalized to decrease the cathodic oxygen reduction reaction (ORR) rate, which supports anodic undercutting at the head of the corrosion front. In this galvanic corrosion mechanism, the scribe-creep rate will be proportional to the rate of the anodic dissolution at the head. This, in turn, is proportional to the galvanic corrosion rate. Both charge transfer controlled and mass transport controlled cathodic reaction rates occurred at the fastest rates at the scratch and tail. The charge transfer controlled cathodic reaction rate was directly proportional to the surface coverage of Cu (thetaCu) while the mass transport limited rate was a complex nonlinear function of thetaCu . Based on enhanced understanding a galvanic couple model that describes scribe-creep rates in terms of the relevant processes at the tail and head as well as ohmic voltage between the head and tail was developed in order to explain scribe-creep propagation.; Utilizing a galvanic corrosion model it is possible to predict the effect of material, pretreatment, inhibitors, and physical parameters on the under-paint galvanic corrosion rate and scribe-creep rate. This can be used to predict the under-paint corrosion rate as well as help to identify and clarify methods which can be utilized to slow down the rate of under-paint corrosion.