Localised corrosion in AA 2099-T83 aluminium-lithium alloy: The role of grain orientation

The mechanism for localised corrosion in AA 2099-T83 alloy during immersion in 3.5% NaCl solution is investigated. It is found that localised corrosion tends to occur in the grain with relatively large Schmid factor. The localised corrosion is related to selective dissolution of T1 (Al2CuLi) phase that preferentially precipitates at grain/subgrain boundaries and dislocations within grain interiors. A model is proposed to explain the development of the localised corrosion in the alloy by taking into account heterogeneous plastic deformation during cold working and preferential precipitation of T1 phase at crystallographic defects within deformed grains.