Wear and corrosion performance of two different tempers (T6 and T73) of AA7075 aluminium alloy after nitrogen implantation

The combination of EXCO immersion tests and electrochemical measurements allowed explaining the effect of AlN layer, which behave as a barrier delaying the onset of corrosion and slowing its progress. However, the implantation do not modified the corrosion morphology which seems to be determined mainly by the heat treating conditions. Thereby, in both tempers the localized attack starts at the intermetallic/matrix interface, but in T6 type specimens the progress of corrosion is clearly intergranular, while T73 specimens show the formation of clusters of small geometrical pits, probably related to the biggest MgZn2 strengthening precipitates.