Corrosion Resistance of Zinc-Rich Metallic Coatings on Aluminum

Thin walled aluminum heat exchanger tubes, with solid-solution Zn-rich surface are widely used by the automotive industry and considered by the HVAC&R (Heat, Ventilation, Air Conditioning and Refrigeration) market for improved corrosion resistance against pitting. It is well known that alloying Al with Zn causes decrease in the corrosion potential in chloride solution. 1 Thus, Zn-rich coating can provide cathodic protection to the aluminum substrate, in particular prevent pitting corrosion. However, corrosion rate of Zn itself is quite high in chloride solution. 2 This work investigates the extent to which the self-corrosion of the Zn-rich layer can be a limiting factor in determining the service life time of the heat exchanger tubes. Zinc was applied on AlMn alloy extruded tubes by thermal arc spraying immediately after extrusion. Typical Zn load on the surface was 0.8 ± 0.2 mg/cm 2 . The tubes were subsequently subjected to heat treatment at various temperatures (350 - 430°C) and durations to obtain solid-state AlZn alloy diffusion layer with varying thickness and Zn-concentration profiles at the surface of the AlMn substrate. The Zn depth profiles were characterized by glow discharge optical emission spectroscopy (GD-OES). Corrosion rate was determined by weight loss resulting from immersion for predetermined times in acidified artificial sea water solution of pH 3 at 25°C for slight acceleration of the corrosion rate, during which the open circuit potential change was recorded with respect to time. The morphology and composition of the Zn-rich layer before and after corrosion were examined by scanning electron microscopy (SEM) and energy-dispersive X-ray spectroscopy (EDS). The Zn concentration distribution in the layer could be modeled by the solution to Fick's 2nd law with appropriate boundary conditions, giving an effective diffusion coefficient for Zn in the Al substrate of order 10 -10 cm 2 /s in the temperature range of interest, varying according to the Arrhenius law with respect to temperature. Zn-rich layer thickness obtained on the samples heat treated at selected conditions varied approximately in the range 35 to 80 µm with increasing heat treatment temperature and time, corresponding to Zn surface concentrations of 28 to 7 wt%, respectively. Reduction in thickness due to corrosion, calculated from the weight loss measurements by taking into consideration the density depth-profile of Zn, which was obtained from the GD-OES data, increased wit