Aluminum 7075 T6 and stress corrosion cracking 7

Does anyone know what makes Aluminum 7075 T6 especially susceptible to stress corrosion cracking? In particular, which of its metallurgical/microstructure properties makes it so, and what is the relationship between the type of heat treatment and this nature. Thanks for any help.

 

[rikman]

You could try the following link. It deals with the whole subject of stress corrosion, but I think that 7075-T6 is used as an example in several places.

http://npoesslib.ipo.noaa.gov/techlib/doc147/doc147.pdf

 

[EMA10691CS]

RAYMONDF,YOU COULD SEARCH FOR RELATED INFORMATIONS ON THE WEB.........ASTM(AMERICAN SOCIETY FOR TESTING MATERIALS) ,
AA(ALUMINIUM ASSOCIATION) ....BUT SORRY, I DON'T KNOW THEIR WEB ADDRESS! GOOD LUCK....EMANUELE

 

[TVP]

Only aluminum alloys that contain appreciable amounts of soluble alloying elements (copper, magnesium, silicon, and zinc) are susceptible to SCC. There is general agreement that the electrochemical theory of SCC describes the dominant corrosion mechanism of SCC for aluminum alloys.

SCC cracking in Al alloys is characteristically intergranular. According to the electrochemistry theory, this requires a condition along grain bourndaries that makes them anodic to the rest of the microstructure so that corrosion can propagate selectively along them. Such a condition is produced by the localized decomposition of solid solution, with a high degree of continuity of decomposition products, along the grain boundaries. The most anodic regions may be either the boundaries themselves (most commonly the precipitate formed in them) or regions adjoining the boundaries that have been depleted of solute.

Alloy 7075 contains a large amount of solute atoms-- 5.6% Zn, 2.5% Mg, and 1.6% Cu. After T6 heat treating, many precipitates are formed, especially along the grain boundaries, including CuMgAl2. This intermetallic phase is anodic to the grains, which allows for selective corrosion along the grain boundaries.

In order to improve the SCC resistance of 7xxx series alloys containing Cu, the T73 and T76 tempers were developed. These tempers require a two-stage artificial aging treatment, the second stage of which is performed at higher temperatures than the standard T6 treatment. The first stage nucleates a fine, high-density precipitation dispersion, which results in high strength. The second treatment develops SCC resistance, because instead of Guinier-Preston (GP) zones, which is the CuMgAl2 phase, the metastable transition form of MgZn2 (called the eta prime phase) forms. This phase is more resistant to intergranular corrosion that causes SCC.

 

[AlphaJetspecialist]

Look about ALCOA GREEN LETTER, these are publications from ALCOA - the american Aluminium manufacturer.
For example
Donald Sprowls / E.H. Spuhler
Avoiding Stress Corrosion Cracking in High Strengh Aluminium Alloy Structrues
or
J.T. Staley
Resistance to Stress Corrocion Cracking of Al-Zn-Mg-Cu-Alloys Containing Zr or Mn

 

[WKTaylor]

raymondf...

The following documents contain outstanding discussions of corrosion and Stress Corrosion Cracking [SCC].

MIL-HDBK-729 "Corrosion and Corrosion Prevention - Metals"

MIL-HDBK-735 "Materials Deterioration Prevention and Control Guide for Army Materials - Part One - Metals"

MIL-HDBK-1568 "Materials and Processes for Corrosion Prevention and Control in Aerospace Weapons Systems"

MSFC-SPEC-522A "Design Criteria for controling SCC"

ASTM G64 "Standard Classification of Resistance to SCC of Heat Treatable Aluminum Alloys"

SAE ARP823 "Minimizing SCC in Wrought Heat Treatable Aluminum Alloys"

SAE ARP1110 "Minimizing SCC in Wrought Forms of Steel and Corrosion Resistant Steels and Alloys"
Regards, Wil Taylor