Simulation Investigation on Environment-Induced Pitting Corrosion on the Metal Surface

The prediction of corrosion damage is one of effective research methods in the safety inspection of aging aircraft structures. A mathematical model for quantifying corrosion damage is used in this paper to predict the onset of corrosion on structural surfaces exposed to aggressive environments. Based on the finite difference technique, the evolution process of local pitting corrosion on the surface of aluminum alloy in the medium is simulated, which can consider the sudden onset and the randomness of pitting corrosion. The effect of local ion concentration and oxide film damage on subsequent pitting nucleation was analyzed. Based on the efficient calculation program, the effectiveness of the mathematical model is verified by the comparison between the corrosion damage morphology and the experimental data in the literature. The results show a more widespread distribution of subsequent pits because of stronger aggressive ions are released during the life cycle of active pits and the higher diffusion coefficient of the aggressive ions. The three dimensional morphology is generated by image processing method based on the gray value of the two dimensional image of pits.

Further Studies into Crack Growth in Additively Manufactured Materials

Understanding and characterizing crack growth is central to meeting the damage tolerance and durability requirements delineated in USAF Structures Bulletin EZ-SB-19-01 for the utilization of additive manufacturing (AM) in the sustainment of aging aircraft. In this context, the present paper discusses the effect of different AM processes, different build directions, and the variability in the crack growth rates related to AM Ti-6Al-4V, AM Inconel 625, and AM 17-4 PH stainless steel. This study reveals that crack growth in these three AM materials can be captured using the Hartman–Schijve crack growth equation and that the variability in the various da/dN versus ΔK curves can be modeled by allowing the terms ΔKthr and A to vary. It is also shown that for the AM Ti-6AL-4V processes considered, the variability in the cyclic fracture toughness appears to be greatest for specimens manufactured using selective layer melting (SLM).