Study the microstructure and corrosion behaviour of age hardened AA6063 alloy

Abstract

The aim of the work was to determine the effect of Age Hardening with different temperature (120°C to 250°C) of Al Alloy AA6063 (Al-Mg-Si) specimens. The experimental study is focused on Microstructural changes, Hardness and Corrosion behaviour of AA6063-T6 sample after ageing at temperature 120°C, 170°C, 220°C and 250°C with holding time two hours subsequently furnace cool. The characterization of the sample specimens were carried out by using Spectroscopic Analysis, Optical Microscope, Scanning Electron Microscope equipped with Energy Dispersive Spectrometer (SEM/EDX), X-Ray Diffraction, Vickers Micro-hardness, Corrosion Potential Test. The result shows Al-Mg-Si alloys (AA6063) undergo significant micro structural changes during the process before and after age hardening, also identified Under-Aged, Peak-Aged and Over-Aged temperature states with respect to observed Hardness values. The influence of corrosion potential on heat treated AA6063 immersed in 3.5wt% Nacl solution (sea water) and N/10 molar H2SO4 acid solution was studied and result obtained corrosion rate higher in case of ageing sample.