Abstract
Recently, interest in using Al alloys in ship construction instead of fiber-reinforced plastic (FRP) has increased because of the advantages of A) alloy ships over FRP ships, including high speed, increased load capacity. and ease of recycling. This paper investigated the mechanical and electrochemical properties of Al alloys in a slow strain rate test under various potential conditions. These results will provide reference data for ship design by determining the optimum protection potential regarding hydrogen embrittlement and stress corrosion cracking. In general, Al and Al alloys do not corrode on formation of a film that has resistance to corrosion in neutral solutions. In seawater, however, $Cl^-$ ions lead to the formation and destruction of a Passive film. In a potentiostatic experiment. the current density after 1200 sec in the Potential range of $-0.68\~-1.5\;V$ was low. This low current density indicates the protection potential range. Elongation at an applied potential of 0 V was high in this SSRT. However, corrosion protection under these conditions is impossible because the mechanical properties are worse owing to decreased strength resulting from the active dissolution reaction in parallel parts of the specimen. A film composed of $CaCO_3\;and\;Mg(OH)_2$ confers corrosion resistance. However, at potentials below -1.6 V forms non-uniform electrodeposition coating, since there is too little time to form a coating. Therefore, we concluded that the mechanical properties are poor because the effect of hydrogen gas generation exceeds that of electrodeposition. Comparison of the maximum tensile strength, elongation, and time to fracture indicated that the optimum protection potential range was from -1.45 to -0.9 V (SSCE).
