The Influence of Heat Treatment on the Performance of Highly Corrosion Resistant Aluminum Alloys

New 'stainless aluminum' alloys must be produced using expensive processing methods such as co-sputter deposition and ion implantation. To determine the influence of temperature on the sputter deposited alloys heat treatments were conducted. These heat treatments caused pitting potential to decrease from the 'as processed' values, but did not cause a total loss of corrosion properties relative to pure aluminum. Constant potential tests below the determined pitting potential were conducted on both heat treated and 'as processed' sputter deposited alloys in an attempt to confirm the heat treatment data. Anodic currents were observed for both conditions. Some mechanical failure has been noted with these thin film alloys, which could result in crevice corrosion, possibly causing the anodic currents detected. This contradictory result requires further investigation.