Understanding corrosion fatigue crack tip pH differences between AA2024 and AA7075 using in situ measurements
摘要
At low fatigue loading frequencies of 0.1 Hz, the near crack tip pH of AA2024-T8 and AA7075-T6 diverge strongly, whereas at higher loading frequencies of 10 Hz they approach the bulk solution pH. In-situ micro pH probes positioned in line with crack plane show AA7075-T6 develops acidic crack tip pH ~3.5, whereas AA2024-T8 becomes strongly alkaline with pH ~11 at 0.1 Hz. This pH difference aligns with corrosion fatigue (CF) behavior where AA7075-T6 exhibits higher crack growth rates (da/dN) compared to air while AA2024-T8 exhibits da/dN near that of lab air. As frequency increases, both alloys display pH converging toward the neutral bulk pH of 0.6 M NaCl and both da/dN higher than lab air. Results are evaluated against a hypothesis in the literature suggesting alloy-specific crack wake cathodic reactions may set local pH and thereby influence CF kinetics in AA2xxx and AA7xxx Al alloys. Other possible hypotheses are evaluated.