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Article

The Characterization of Stress Corrosion Cracking in the AE44 Magnesium Casting Alloy Using Quantitative Fractography Methods

1
Faculty of Materials Engineering and Metallurgy, Silesian University of Technology, Krasińskiego 8, 40-019 Katowice, Poland
2
BGH Polska Sp. z o.o., ul. Żelazna 9, 40-851 Katowice, Poland
3
Faculty of Advanced Technology and Chemistry, Military University of Technology, Gen. S. Kaliskiego 2, 00-908 Warsaw, Poland
*
Authors to whom correspondence should be addressed.
Materials 2019, 12(24), 4125; https://doi.org/10.3390/ma12244125
Submission received: 23 October 2019 / Revised: 28 November 2019 / Accepted: 3 December 2019 / Published: 9 December 2019
(This article belongs to the Special Issue Corrosion and Protection of Materials)

Abstract

In this work an assessment of the susceptibility of the AE44 magnesium alloy to stress corrosion cracking in a 0.1M Na2SO4 environment is presented. The basic assumed criterion for assessing the alloy behavior under complex mechanical and corrosive loads is deterioration in mechanical properties (elongation, reduction in area, tensile strength and time to failure). The AE44 magnesium alloy was subjected to the slow strain rate test (SSR) in air and in a corrosive environment under open circuit potential (OCP) conditions. In each variant, the content of hydrogen in the alloy was determined. The obtained fractures were subjected to a quantitative evaluation by original fractography methods. It was found that under stress corrosion cracking (SCC) conditions and in the presence of hydrogen the mechanical properties of AE44 deteriorated. The change in the mechanical properties under SCC conditions in a corrosive environment was accompanied by the presence of numerous cracks, both on fracture surfaces and in the alloy microstructure. The developed method for the quantitative evaluation of cracks on the fracture surface turned out to be a more sensitive method, enabling the assessment of the susceptibility of AE44 under complex mechanical and corrosive loads in comparison with deterioration in mechanical properties. Mechanical tests showed a decrease in properties after SSRT tests in corrosive environments (UTS ≈ 153 MPa, ε = 11.2%, Z = 4.0%) compared to the properties after air tests (UTS ≈ 166 MPa, ε = 11.9%, Z = 7.8%) but it was not as visible as the results of quantitative assessment of cracks at fractures (number of cracks, length of cracks): after tests in corrosive environment (900; 21.3 μm), after tests in air (141; 34.5 μm). These results indicate that the proposed new proprietary test methodology can be used to quantify the SSC phenomenon in cases of slight changes in mechanical properties after SSRT tests in a corrosive environment in relation to the test results in air.
Keywords: magnesium alloy; stress corrosion cracking; hydrogen; fractography methods magnesium alloy; stress corrosion cracking; hydrogen; fractography methods

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MDPI and ACS Style

Sozańska, M.; Mościcki, A.; Czujko, T. The Characterization of Stress Corrosion Cracking in the AE44 Magnesium Casting Alloy Using Quantitative Fractography Methods. Materials 2019, 12, 4125. https://doi.org/10.3390/ma12244125

AMA Style

Sozańska M, Mościcki A, Czujko T. The Characterization of Stress Corrosion Cracking in the AE44 Magnesium Casting Alloy Using Quantitative Fractography Methods. Materials. 2019; 12(24):4125. https://doi.org/10.3390/ma12244125

Chicago/Turabian Style

Sozańska, Maria, Adrian Mościcki, and Tomasz Czujko. 2019. "The Characterization of Stress Corrosion Cracking in the AE44 Magnesium Casting Alloy Using Quantitative Fractography Methods" Materials 12, no. 24: 4125. https://doi.org/10.3390/ma12244125

APA Style

Sozańska, M., Mościcki, A., & Czujko, T. (2019). The Characterization of Stress Corrosion Cracking in the AE44 Magnesium Casting Alloy Using Quantitative Fractography Methods. Materials, 12(24), 4125. https://doi.org/10.3390/ma12244125

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