Effect of heat treatment on sensitization behaviour of AA5059 alloy

Abstract

This work examines the behaviour of the marine-grade aluminium alloy when subjected to sensitization toward Stress Corrosion Cracking (SCC). The introduction of sensitization on the aluminium alloy can be naturally occurring during their application make it more susceptible to intergranular stress corrosion cracking (IGSCC). AA5059 aluminium alloy samples are artificially sensitized at various temperatures for various durations of time, and test was done like Constant Load Test (CLT) and Transmission Electron Microscope (TEM) to study the effect of sensitization on the corrosive rate and the microstructure, respectively. The results in this report includes the distance between β-phase precipitate and rate of fracture due to SCC in seawater like condition at different sensitization condition.