Salt fog corrosion behavior in a powder-processed icosahedral-phase-strengthened aluminum alloy

The pitting corrosion resistance has been evaluated for a powder-processed Al-Cr-Mn-Co-Zr alloy which contains ≈35% by volume of an icosahedral quasi-crystalline phase and a little Al9Co2 in an Al matrix. ASTM standard salt fog exposure tests show that the alloy exhibits far lower corrosion pit densities and depths than commercial high-strength aerospace Al alloys under the same conditions. Electron microscopy data show that the salt fog exposure leads to the selective oxidation of the face-centered cubic Al matrix around the other phases, and to the development of a porous outer oxide scale.