Exfoliation corrosion of T6- and T8-aged Al_xCu_yLi_z alloy

The exfoliation corrosion behavior of a novel Al-Li alloy treated by T6- and T8-peak ageing was studied by electrochemical impedance spectroscopy(EIS) technique. The surface morphology of corroded samples was examined by scanning electron microscope(SEM). The microstructure of un-corroded samples was observed by transmission electron microscope(TEM). At early stage of immersion in EXCO, EIS plots of the two differently processed samples are composed of a capacitive arc in the high frequency range and an inductive loop in the low frequency range. Inductive loop disappears with the increasing of immersion time and two capacitive arcs appear. T6-treated alloy has higher exfoliation susceptibility than T8-treated one, suggested by different exfoliation starting time, which is 23 h and 27 h respectively. T1 phase and equilibrium precipitate at the grain boundary of T6-treated alloy are larger in amount and size than those of T8-treated alloy. This is the main reason for the higher exfoliation susceptibility of T6-treated alloy.