Effect of Heat Treatment on Corrosion Behaviors of Mg-5Y-1.5Nd Alloys

Corrosion behavior of Mg-5Y-1.5Nd alloy was investigated after heat treatment. The microstructure and precipitation were studied by scanning electron microscope (SEM) and energy dispersive spectrometer (EDS). The weight loss rates of different samples were arranged as T6-24 hT6-6 hT6-14 has-castT4. The open circuit potential (OCP) showed that T4 sample had a more positive potential than that of other samples. The potentiodynamic polarization curves showed that the T6-24 h sample had the highest corrosion current density of 245.362 μAcm−2, whereas the T4 sample had the lowest at 52.164 μAcm−2. The EIS results confirmed that the heat treatment reduced the corrosion resistance for Mg-5Y-1.5Nd alloy, because the precipitations acted as the cathode of electrochemical reactions to accelerate the corrosion process. The corrosion rates of different samples were mainly determined by the amount and distribution of the precipitations. The precipitations played dual roles that depended on the amount and distribution. The presence of the phase in the alloys could deteriorate the corrosion performance as it could act as an effective galvanic cathode. Otherwise, a fine and homogeneous phase appeared to be a better anticorrosion barrier.