Corrosion and nanomechanical behaviors of plasma electrolytic oxidation coated AA7020-T6 aluminum alloy

Alumina coating was deposited on AA7020 aluminum alloy by plasma electrolytic oxidation (PEO) method. The corrosion, stress corrosion cracking (SCC) and nano-mechanical behaviors were examined by means of potentiodynamic polarization, slow strain rate test (SSRT) and nano-indentation tests. Potentiodynamic polarization (PP) was used to evaluate the corrosion resistance of the coating and slow strain rate test (SSRT) was used for evaluating the environmental cracking resistance in 3.5% NaCl solution. The mechanical properties (hardness and elastic modulus) were obtained from each indentation as a function of the penetration depth across the coating cross section. The above results were compared with similar PEO coated aluminum and magnesium alloys. Results indicated that PEO coating on AA7020 alloy significantly improved the corrosion resistance. However the environmental cracking resistance was found to be only marginal. The hardness and elastic modulus values were found to be much higher when compared to the base metal and similar PEO coated 7075 aluminum alloys. The fabricated coating also exhibited good adhesive strength with the substrate similar to other PEO coated aluminum alloys reported in the literature