Investigation on microstructure, mechanical properties and corrosion behavior of Sc-contained Al-7075 alloys after solution-aging treatment

Abstract This work mainly studies on Sc microalloying in Al-7075 alloys. The microstructure characteristics and mechanical properties of the Sc-contained Al-7075 alloys were investigated after homogenization at 460 ℃ for 10 h. The corrosion behavior of the 7075 alloys after aging was examined using a three-electrode system. The results showed that significant reduction in grain sizes from 129.92 μ m without Sc alloy to 32.17 μ m with 0.6% Sc. The microhardness increased with the increase of Sc content in the alloy from 71.7 ± 1.3 HV without Sc alloy to 89.2 ± 4.7 HV. The tensile strength also increased from 151.82 ± 1.07 MPa to 212.85 ± 7.35 MPa. The results also revealed that the addition of Sc element in 7075 aluminum alloys not only reduced the corrosion current density of the alloy, but also increased the corrosion resistance of the alloy in the corrosive environment.