Beruflich Dokumente
Kultur Dokumente
Abstract
The current paper explains the corrosion characteristics of titanium alloy Ti-6Al-4V in three different environments, which
simulates chemical, marine and industrial environments at various temperatures. The results revealed that the titanium alloy
could form a protective oxide scale under different environmental conditions studied at both low and higher temperatures. The
corrosion rate evaluated in different environments and at different temperatures was correlated. The pitting corrosion studies in
different environments revealed that the alloy is resistant to pitting and crevice corrosion in marine and chemical environments
at both temperatures but susceptible in industrial environments. The corrosion morphologies observed at different temperatures
and in various environments were correlated as well as the degradation mechanism that is leading the titanium alloy to fail under
various environmental conditions. Finally, based on the results obtained with different techniques, the alloy was recommended
to fabricate the components intended to use in a variety of environmental conditions.
D 2004 Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.
Keywords: Titanium alloy; Industrial applications; Corrosion; Degradation mechanism
1. Introduction
In view of excellent strength and lightweight
properties, titanium alloys are attractive candidate
materials to fabricate the components for aerospace
applications. Apart from the aerospace industry,
titanium alloys have led to widespread nonaerospace applications due to good corrosion resistance
to many highly corrosive environments. Titanium
alloys that consist of only alpha phase are commonly used in industrial applications where corro-
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2. Experimental
Test specimens 4 mm high and 14 mm in diameter
were machined from Ti-6Al-4V alloy sheet. Potentiodynamic polarization, cyclic polarization and potential
versus time techniques were used to study the corrosion characteristics. The corrosion resistance of Ti6Al-4V was tested in three different environmental
conditions (chemical/acidic, marine and industrial) at
various temperatures (25 and 50 jC). The tests were
carried out by using model 273A EG&G PARC
potentiostat along with model 352 corrosion analysis
software. A standard three-electrode cell consisting of
titanium alloy Ti-6Al-4V as the working electrode, a
saturated calomel reference electrode (SCE) and a
graphite counter electrode were used to perform
polarization experiments. A magnetic stirrer was used
to stir the solutions.
Potentiodynamic polarization technique was used
to determine the active/passive characteristics of a
given titanium alloy-environmental system and to
determine corrosion rates in different environmental
conditions. The isolated corrosion potential (Ecorr)
versus time curves were used to assess the protective
nature of the material. A cyclic polarization technique
was used to evaluate the pitting and crevice corrosion
resistance of Ti-6Al-4V alloy in different environments (chemical, marine and industrial) and at various
temperatures (25 and 50 jC). Finally, SEM was used
to understand the degradation of the alloy under
various environmental conditions.
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Fig. 1. Variation of isolated Ecorr as a function of time for Ti-6Al-4V in various environments and at different temperatures.
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Table 1
Ecorr, Icorr, bc, ba and corrosion rate for Ti-6Al-4V in different environments at various temperatures
Environment
Chemical
Marine
Industrial
Temperature
(jC)
25
50
25
50
25
50
Ecorr
(mV)
133.8
28.87
436.9
410.2
417.7
426.4
Icorr
(AA/cm2)
bc
(10
324.8
499.4
58.46
135.7
78.90
165.10
0.2384
0.2561
0.3955
0.5391
0.3489
0.8310
V/decade)
ba
(10
0.0088
0.2926
0.6955
0.7403
0.5757
0.1114
V/decade)
Corrosion
rate (mils/year)
227.0
348.9
41.41
96.10
55.13
116.9
(Fig. 2). As the corrosion rate is observed for Ti-6Al4V at 25 and 50 jC in chemical environments, the
mode of degradation is due to uniform corrosion.
In marine environments at 25 jC, the reverse scan
almost followed the forward scan, implying that it is
resistant to both pitting and crevice corrosion. At 50
jC in the same environment, the reverse scan came
well above the forward scan. It could not intersect the
forward scan (Fig. 3). It is clearly indicating that Ti6Al-4V is not susceptible to either pitting or crevice
corrosion even at a temperature of 50 jC. However, in
industrial environments, the reverse scan came below
the forward scan at 25 jC and formed a small loop,
indicating that it is vulnerable to pitting as well as
crevice corrosion. Even at 50 jC, the reverse scan
came below the forward scan (Fig. 4), indicating that
it is susceptible to pitting and crevice corrosion in the
same environment.
Fig. 2. Cyclic polarization curves of titanium alloy Ti-6Al-4V at different temperatures in chemical environments.
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Fig. 3. Cyclic polarization curves of titanium alloy Ti-GAL-4V at different temperatures in marine environments.
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Fig. 5. Surface morphology of Ti-6Al-4V after corrosion studies in marine environment at 50 jC.
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Fig. 6. Surface morphologies of Ti-6Al-4V after corrosion studies in industrial environments at 25 and 50 jC.
The present results suggest that titanium alloy Ti6Al-4V can be used for the fabrication of components
intended for use in marine and acidic environmental
conditions with normal minimum surface treatments
at lower temperatures. The results also indicate that
the alloy should not be used in the industrial environments without the application of appropriate surface
coatings or treatments as the mechanism of degradation is due to pitting, which is highly critical for the
components used in these industries. The investigations further suggest that effective protective measures
are very essential to use this alloy in the industries as
the life improves significantly with suitable protective
measures.
138
Acknowledgements
Defence Research and Development Organisation
is gratefully acknowledged for financial assistance.
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