Electrochemical corrosion characterization of nickel aluminides in acid rain

Abstract

Nickel aluminides have been extensively studied in recent decades to replace superalloys, in some components of aircraft turbines, because they have excellent corrosion resistance. Many industrial cities have the problem of air pollution, which has forced the study of the degradation of these alloys in the presence of acid rain. The aim of this work is to study the electrochemical corrosion behavior of nickel aluminides in a medium of simulated acid rain. Potentiodynamic Polarization, Linear polarization resistance curves, Rp, Nyquist data and Bode curves obtained by electrochemical impedance spectroscopy were used to study the corrosion behavior of two intermetallic compounds. The polarization curves show that both intermetallic Ni3Al and NiAl have very similar corrosion potential, showing a slightly nobler behavior the NiAl intermetallic. The intermetallic Ni3Al has an active-passive behavior where the anode branch presents a general dissolution of the alloy, indicating that it is under cathodic control. NiAl intermetallic shows an active dissolution region, followed by a passive behavior. At longer immersion times, Ni3Al intermetallic has a higher polarization resistance, which means a lower corrosion rate.