On the Corrosion Fatigue of Magnesium Alloys Aimed at Biomedical Applications: New Insights from the Influence of Testing Frequency and Surface Modification of the Alloy ZK60

Magnesium alloys are contemporary candidates for many structural applications of which medical applications, such as bioresorbable implants, are of significant interest to the community and a challenge to materials scientists. The generally poor resistance of magnesium alloys to environmentally assisted fracture, resulting, in particular, in faster-than-desired bio-corrosion degradation in body fluids, strongly impedes their broad uptake in clinical practice. Since temporary structures implanted to support osteosynthesis or healing tissues may experience variable loading, the resistance to bio-corrosion fatigue is a critical issue that has yet to be understood in order to maintain the structural integrity and to prevent the premature failure of implants. In the present communication, we address several aspects of the corrosion fatigue behaviour of magnesium alloys, using the popular commercial ZK60 Mg-Zn-Zr alloy as a representative example. Specifically, the effects of the testing frequency, surface roughness and metallic coatings are discussed in conjunction with the fatigue fractography after the testing of miniature specimens in air and simulated body fluid. It is demonstrated that accelerated environmentally assisted degradation under cyclic loading occurs due to a complicated interplay between corrosion damage, stress corrosion cracking and cyclic loads. The occurrence of corrosion fatigue in Mg alloys is exaggerated by the significant sensitivity to the testing frequency. The fatigue life or strength reduced remarkably with a decrease in the test frequency.

Chlorine Corrosion in a Low-Power Boiler Fired with Agricultural Biomass

The selection of appropriate heat-resistant materials which are at the same time resistant to atmospheres rich in chlorine and its compounds is one of the most important current construction problems in steel boiler elements when using biomass fuels of agricultural origin. In the research presented here, an area was identified in the furnace of a 10 kW boiler where there was a potential risk of chlorine corrosion. This zone was determined based on numerical analysis of the combustion process; it is the zone with the highest temperatures and where the gas atmosphere conducive to the formation of chlorine corrosion centers. Subsequently, tests were carried out in the process environment of the combustion chamber of a 10 kW boiler (the fuel was barley straw) by placing samples of eight construction materials in a numerically-designated zone. These included samples of steel (coal boiler St41K, heat-resistant H25T and H24JS, and heat-resistant valve 50H21G9N4) as well as intermetallic materials based on phases (FeAl, Fe3Al, NiAl, and Ni3Al). The samples remained in the atmosphere of the boiler furnace for 1152 h at a temperature of 750–900 °C. After this time, the surfaces of the samples were subjected to SEM microscopy and scanning analysis. The results showed that the St41K boiler steel was not suitable for operation under the assumed conditions, and that a thick layer of complex corrosion products was visible on its surface. The least amount of corrosion damage was observed for the samples of 50H21G9N4 steel and intermetallic materials.

Bearing Capacity Analysis of Transmission Tower Structure Considering Corrosion Damage

As an important part of power grid equipment, transmission towers are in direct contact with the external environment for a long time. As a coastal city in China, Fujian has been affected by marine environment and industrial pollution for a long time, which directly affects the safety of transmission towers in long-term service. In order to explore the changes of the ultimate bearing capacity of the tower structure after corrosion, this paper uses finite element software to analyse the mechanical properties of the tower structure during long-term service, and finds that the 45° wind direction is the control condition, and the overall stiffness of the tower decreases with the growth of corrosion time, and the increment of tower top displacement reaches 7% at 12 years of corrosion. The corrosion-sensitive members of the tower were clearly identified, and their stress ratios increased from 0.78, 0.79, and 0.83 to 0.97, 0.98, and 0.99, respectively, at 12 years of corrosion.

The effect of corrosion location relative to local stresses on the fatigue life of geometrically-complex, galvanically corroded AA7075-T6

Aluminum components used in aerospace structures are commonly coupled with stainless-steel fasteners. These through-hole geometries on the aluminum substrate cause a concentrated stress field. The high-stresses at the fastener sites can preferentially initiate coating damage allowing for moisture ingress which can lead to the formation of a galvanic couple between the aluminum alloy and the stainless-steel fastener. Corrosion damage is known to favorably initiate fatigue cracks thus severely reducing the total life of the component. This work aims to understand the relative impact and interaction of fastener hole geometry induced stress concentrations and corrosion damage on the fatigue crack initiation behavior. Specifically, by imparting various levels of corrosion severities at different locations within the macro-scale stress field, the relative impact of each on the initiation process can be determined. This work demonstrated a dominant role of the macro-scale stress field on the crack formation location. Specifically, crack formation was found to preferentially occur at high stress regions in lieu of forming at lower stress regions, regardless of corrosion severity. Critically, the findings of this work will inform the means by which coatings are evaluated and will serve as a controlled validation of experiments for fracture mechanics modeling.

Fireside Corrosion of Heat Exchanger Materials for Advanced Solid Fuel Fired Power Plants

To address the challenge of climate change, future energy systems need to have reduced greenhouse gas emissions and increased efficiencies. For solid fuel fired combustion plants, one route towards achieving this is to increase the system’s steam temperatures and pressures. Another route is to co-fire renewable fuels (such as biomass) with coals. Fireside corrosion performance of two candidate superheater/reheater alloys has been characterised at higher heat exchanger surface temperature. Samples of the alloys (a stainless steel, Sanicro 25 and a nickel-based alloy, IN740) were exposed in fireside corrosion tests at 650 °C, 700 °C and 750 °C, in controlled atmosphere furnaces using the ‘deposit recoat’ test method to simulate superheater/reheater exposure for 1000 h. After exposure, the samples were analysed using dimensional metrology to determine the extent and distributions of corrosion damage in terms of surface recession and internal damage. At 650 °C, the stainless steel and nickel-based alloy performed similarly, while at 700 °C and above, the median damage to the steel was at least 3 times greater than for the nickel-based alloy. Optical and electronic microscopy studies were used to study samples’ damage morphologies after exposure. Intergranular damage and pits were found in sample cross sections, while chromium depletion was found in areas with internal damage. For high-temperature applications, the higher cost of the nickel-based alloy could be offset by the longer life they would allow in plant with higher operating temperatures.

Korozja pokrycia samolotu i względy bezpieczeństwa konstrukcyjnego

The aim of this article is to point out some peculiarities of airframe corrosion, the impact of external forces on aircraft skin elements and their impact on structural integrity. The corrosion process is generally associated with fatigue of aircraft structural elements due to the effect of many factors such as the type of loading, the properties of the materials, the corro-sive environment, etc. The article is not focused on corrosion processes, but on load factors that are specific to aircraft wing design elements and their influence on corrosion of critical struc-tural elements. Corrosion of the wing is perceived as a consequence of environmental impact on damaged surface protection of the skin and connecting parts (rivets, screws, and welded joints) caused by static and dynamic stress of the wing and also by the interaction of the indi-vidual structural elements as a whole. The dynamics of operation of individual structural ele-ments is further enhanced by the fatigue of the material. Early detection of corrosion processes has generally been and is crucial to overall safety of the aircraft. The proposals presented in the article are formulated in order to improve the system of work to ensure the safety of aircraft operation in terms of resistance to corrosion damage.