Effect of the Microstructure and Environmental Exposure Conditions on the Corrosion Behaviour of the 2050 Alloy

Alternate immersion-emersion tests were performed for a 2050 aluminium alloy to characterize its corrosion resistance with exposure conditions representative of in service-conditions. Tests were performed for T34 samples and aged samples. After continuous immersion tests, T34 samples exhibited intergranular corrosion while intragranular corrosion was observed for aged samples. The alternate immersion-emersion tests led to a corrosion extension to the subgrain boundaries, for both T34 and aged samples, as shown by electron backscattered diffraction analysis.