Abstract
Low corrosion resistance of magnesium alloys strongly limits their application range. This study aims at the investigation of corrosion influence on microstructure and depending mechanical properties of newly developed magnesium alloy Mg–4Al–2Ba–2Ca. The fatigue properties of this creep-resistant magnesium alloy were investigated under three corrosive environments: double distilled water, 0.01 and 0.1 mol L−1 NaCl solutions. Potentiodynamic polarization measurements and immersion tests were performed to estimate the corrosion behaviour. Specimen surfaces were observed using light and scanning electron microscopy for microstructure-related assessment of corrosion mechanisms. The corrosion fatigue behaviour was characterized in continuous load increase tests using plastic strain and electrochemical measurements. Continuous load increase tests allow estimating the fatigue limit and determining the failure stress amplitude with one single specimen. Fatigue results showed a significant decrease in the estimated fatigue limit and determined failure stress amplitude with increasing corrosion impact of the environments. This corrosion–structure–property relation was quantitatively described by means of model-based correlation approaches and failure hypotheses. Plastic strain amplitude and deformation-induced changes in electrochemical measurands can be equivalently applied for precise corrosion fatigue assessment.
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