Pitting corrosion of rheocast A356 aluminium alloy in 3.5wt.% NaCl solution

In this study, the microstructure and corrosion behaviour of rheocast and gravity-cast A356 aluminium alloys were examined and compared. Scanning Kelvin probe force microscopy (SKPFM) results proved that large potential differences between iron-containing intermetallics and the α-Al matrix were responsible for the initiation of the attack at the intermetallics/α-Al interfaces. For longer immersion times, corrosion attack proceeded through the eutectic areas. Semisolid processing refined the eutectic silicon and iron-intermetallics and reduced the potential difference between secondary phases and the matrix. This resulted in improved pitting corrosion resistance of the rheocast A356 aluminium alloy.