Influence of intermetallic particles on the corrosion properties of extruded ZK60 Mg alloy containing Cu

Abstract

The microstructure and corrosion behavior of the extruded ZK60 Mg alloys with different Cu content were comparatively investigated. The ZK60 alloy had a microstructure consisting of α-Mg grains with intermetallic MgZn2 and Zn2Zr3 particles. The addition of 1 wt % Cu resulted in the additional presence of CuMgZn particles. In a 0.6 M NaCl solution at 25 °C, the corrosion rate of the alloy with the added Cu appeared to be about 16% faster than that of the alloy without the addition of Cu. The factors affecting the degraded corrosion resistance of the Cu-added ZK60 alloy are discussed.