The cracking behavior of anodic films on cast aluminum alloy after heating in the temperature range up to 300 °C

The cracking behavior of sealed anodic films on cast aluminum alloy after heating in the temperature range up to 300 °C was studied and the effects of anodizing temperature, heating temperature and heating rate on cracking behavior were investigated. The results showed that before heating some micro-cracks were present in sealed anodic films on the aluminum alloy tested. After heating between 100 °C and 300 °C, the initial micro-cracks became wider and deeper, and new cracks also may be initiated in the film. As anodizing temperature increased, both the crack density and the crack width increased after heating, which was attributed to increase of the porosity of the anodic films formed at higher temperatures. At higher heating temperature, the cracks obviously got wider, but the crack density remained almost unchanged. Increased heating rate resulted in more cracks in the anodic film, indicating that higher strain rate may promote initiation of the micro-cracks, while cooling rate had little influence on cracking behavior.