Proceedings of National Symposium for Post Graduate Students (NSPGS 2010), 24 25 April, 2010: Vol 4 Civil, Materials &

p; Metallurgy

Corrosion Inhibition of 6061Al-15%(vol) SiC Composite

By Glycin
Gopal A. 1 and Jagannath Nayak2
1. M.Tech final year student, Department of Metallurgical and Materials Engineering
National Institute of Technology Karnataka, Surathakal, India
2. Associate professor Department of Metallurgical and Materials Engineering
National Institute of Technology Karnataka, Surathakal, India

ABSTRACT

Addition of reinforcement like SiC to aluminium matrix has been reported to decrease
the corrosion resistance of the matrix due to several reasons, one of them being the galvanic
action between the reinforcement and the matrix. The work deals the corrosion behaviour of
6061 Al-15%(vol)SiC Composite material. Corrosion behaviour of 6061 Al-15%(vol)SiC
composite was determined in 1N HCl ,0.1N HCl and 0.01NHCl by Tafel extrapolation
technique in the temperature range 303K-323K.Further,the inhibition studies were made by
using a inhibitor Glycin in the concentration range 50ppm-200ppm.The results indicate that
the organic compound acts as anodic inhibitor and is moderately effective in inhibiting the
corrosion of 6061 Al-15%(vol)SiC Composite. The inhibition efficiency increases with
increase in inhibitor concentration.

1. INTRODUCTION
Aluminium matrix composites possess high Youngs modulus/density and yield
strength/density ratios together with tailorable coefficient of thermal expansion and high
thermal conductivity and hence look very promising and find applications in aerospace,
military and automobile industries. However, one of the main draw backs of aluminium
matrix composite is the decrease in corrosion resistance compared to the base alloy. Base
alloys inherently develop a protective oxide surface film which imparts corrosion resistance;
but, addition of reinforcing phase (mainly its proportion and particle size) leads to in
homogeneities and can cause discontinuities in the surface film, increasing the number of
sites where corrosion can be initiated and making the composite more vulnerable to
corrosion attack. In these cases, the galvanic action between the reinforcement and the
matrix. It is, therefore very important to add corrosion inhibitors to decrease the corrosion
rate of Al composites. A wide variety of compounds are reported as inhibitors and these are
mainly organic compounds usually containing N, S or O atoms.
The present work deals with the inhibitive action of Glycine on the corrosion behaviour of
6061 Al-15%(vol) SiC Composite in 0.01N,0.1N and 1N HCl solutions with three levels of
concentrations. Potentiodynamic studies are carried out to establish the corrosion inhibition
by the above compound.

2. EXPERIMENTAL
2.1 Material
The 6061 Al- SiC Composites (with 15 vol% SiC particles of size 23micro metre, irregular
shape) were cast in the form of 10 cylinders each of 90 mm diameter and 240mm height by
stir casting technique at NIIST (formerly RRL), Thiruvananthapuram, India. These cylinders
were extruded at 703K-753K with extrusion ratio of 30:1(two rods of each of 11.5mm
diameter) at Serval Engineers, Mangalore. These extruded rods were cut into required size
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Proceedings of National Symposium for Post Graduate Students (NSPGS 2010), 24 25 April, 2010: Vol 4 Civil, Materials & Metallurgy

and corrosion studies were made. The Composition of base metal 6061 Al alloy is given in
Table 1. The extruded rods were cut into required lengths for testing

Table 1 Nominal chemical composition of base metal (6061 Al alloy)

Element Cu Mg Si Cr Al

Wt.% 0.25 1.0 0.6 0.25 Balance

2.2 Medium
Test solution of 0.01, 0.1 and 1N HCl were made using AR grade hydrochloric acid (Merck)
and distilled water.

2.3 Inhibitor
Glycine (mol.Wt.132.12) was used at different concentrations viz.50ppm, 100ppm and
200ppm as inhibitor.

2.4 Method
Tafel polarization studies were carried out by using a potentiostat and a 3-electrode cell. An
area of 1.04 cm2 of the polished Al-SiC composite specimens were exposed to 250ml of
acid solution (0.01,0.1 and 1.0N HCl) at 303K without and with (1)50 (2)100 (3)200 ppm
inhibitors in the acid solution. The polarization studies were made from -250mV to +250mV
against open circuit potential (OCP) in steps of 20 mV and the corresponding corrosion
currents, i, recorded. From potential (E) Vs log(i) plot ,corrosion potential (E corr) and
corrosion current (icorr ) were determined. The corrosion rate (C.R), in mpy, is calculated
using the relation,
C.R. (mpy)=0.129 icorr (Equivalent weight/density)composite
=0.4051* icorr where icorr is current density in A.cm-2
The surface coverage (theta) is calculated as
= ( icorr (uninh) - icorr(ih) )/ icorr (uninh)
The percentage of inhibition efficiency (%IE)= 100
The experiments were repeated for 313K and 323K and E corr and icorr ,C.R., and %I.E
were determined.

3. RESULTS AND DISCUSSION

Average values of corrosion rates obtained for various experimental conditions are tabulated
2 and 3.The results indicate that the composite is highly susceptible to corrosion in 1N HCl
while its corrosion rate is very low in 0.01N HCl even at 323K. Corrosion rate of the
composite increases with increase in temperature (Fig. 1a -1c ) possibly because of increased
kinetics of the reaction. Glycin is fairly effective in bringing down the corrosion rate as the
presence of inhibitor brings down the corrosion rate considerably, the rate being lowest at the
highest (200ppm) concentration of the inhibitor. Inhibition efficiency decreases with increase
in the temperature in all the media (Fig. 2a -2c ) which suggest that the inhibitor molecules
are adsorbed by physisorption.
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Proceedings of National Symposium for Post Graduate Students (NSPGS 2010), 24 25 April, 2010: Vol 4 Civil, Materials & Metallurgy

Table 2 Corrosion rate of 6061 Al-15%(Vol) SiC Composite

Medium Temperature Corrosion Rate, mpy

1N HCl 303K 1579.89

313K 2754.68
323K 6198.03
0.1NHCl 303K 30.30
313K 110.94
323K 364.59
0.01NHCl 303K 21.87
313K 42.53
323K 263.31

Table 3 Corrosion Rate of 6061Al-15%(vol)SiC Composite and %Inhibition Effeciency

Temperature Corrosion Rate, mpy (%Inhibition Efficiency)

Medium
Inhibitor Concentration

0ppm 50ppm 100ppm 200ppm

1NHCl 303K 1579.8 668.67(57.67%) 583.34(63.07%) 190.39(87.94

9 %)

313K 2754.6 1407.64(48.90 1276.06(53.67 129.63(95.29

8 %) %) %)

323K 6198.0 3645.90(41.17 1511.69(75.61 166.09(97.32

3 %) %) %)

0.1NHCl 303K 30.30 16.68(46.23%) 12.98(57.15%) 7.70(74.0%)

313K 110.94 72.31(34.82%) 55.90(48.76%) 36.80(66.83%)

323K 364.59 291.67(20.00%) 275.46(24.00%) 97.22(73.33%)

0.01NHCl 303K 21.87 9.72(55.56%) 5.68(74.03%) 2.91(86.69%)

313K 42.53 13.50(68.72%) 12.15(70.15%) 11.18(73.71%)

323K 263.31 210.60(20.00%) 145.83(44.61%) 97.16(63.10%)

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Proceedings of National Symposium for Post Graduate Students (NSPGS 2010), 24 25 April, 2010: Vol 4 Civil, Materials & Metallurgy

1 (a) 1(b)

0ppm
300 50ppm
100ppm
200ppm
250

200
Corrosion Rate (mpy)

150

100

50

300 305 310 315 320 325

Temperature (Kelvin)

1(c)

Fig. 1 Effect of Temperature and inhibitor concentration on the Corrrosion Rate of 6061 Al-
SiC Composite in (a) 1N HCl (b) 0.1N HCl (c) 0.01N HCl

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Proceedings of National Symposium for Post Graduate Students (NSPGS 2010), 24 25 April, 2010: Vol 4 Civil, Materials & Metallurgy

2 (a) 2(b)

50ppm
90 100ppm
85
200ppm
80
75
70
Inhibition Effeciency (%)

65
60
55
50
45
40
35
30
25
20
15
300 305 310 315 320 325
Temperature (Kelvin)

2(c)

Fig. 2 Variation of Inhibition efficiency with temperature in (a) 1N HCl (b) 0.1N HCl

(c) 0.01N HCl

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Proceedings of National Symposium for Post Graduate Students (NSPGS 2010), 24 25 April, 2010: Vol 4 Civil, Materials & Metallurgy

4. CONCLUSIONS
i. 6061Al-15%(Vol)SiC composite is highly susceptible to corrosion in 1N HCl.
ii. Corrosion rate increases with increase in temperature in all media.
iii. Glycin is found to be effective corrosion inhibitor as about 90% inhibition efficiency
was observed.
iv. The inhibition efficiency decreases with increase in temperature in all media
suggesting physisorption. with inhibitor concentration for a given set of conditions.

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