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Thermomechanical treatment and corrosion resistance correlation in the

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Thermomechanical treatment and corrosion

resistance correlation in the AA2198 Al–Cu–Li alloy

João Victor de Sousa Araujo, Aline de Fátima Santos Bugarin, Uyime

Donatus, Caruline de Souza Carvalho Machado, Fernanda Martins Queiroz,
Maysa Terada, Antonello Astarita & Isolda Costa

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Donatus, Caruline de Souza Carvalho Machado, Fernanda Martins Queiroz, Maysa Terada,
Antonello Astarita & Isolda Costa (2019): Thermomechanical treatment and corrosion resistance
correlation in the AA2198 Al–Cu–Li alloy, Corrosion Engineering, Science and Technology, DOI:
10.1080/1478422X.2019.1637077

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CORROSION ENGINEERING, SCIENCE AND TECHNOLOGY
https://doi.org/10.1080/1478422X.2019.1637077

Thermomechanical treatment and corrosion resistance correlation in the AA2198

Al–Cu–Li alloy
João Victor de Sousa Araujo a, Aline de Fátima Santos Bugarina, Uyime Donatus a, Caruline de Souza
Carvalho Machado a, Fernanda Martins Queiroz a, Maysa Teradaa, Antonello Astarita b and Isolda Costa a

a
Instituto de Pesquisas Energéticas e Nucleares, IPEN/CNEN, São Paulo, Brazil; bDepartment of Chemical, Materials and Industrial Production
Engineering, University of Naples Federico II, Napoli, Italy

ABSTRACT ARTICLE HISTORY

The influence of T3, T8 and T851 thermomechanical treatments on the microstructure and corrosion Received 7 May 2019
resistance of the AA2198 was investigated. Differential scanning calorimetry and scanning electron Accepted 24 June 2019
microscopy were used for microstructural characterisation, whereas electrochemical methods were
KEYWORDS
employed to analyse the corrosion behaviour of the alloy. The morphology and composition of Aluminium–lithium alloys;
constituent particles were similar for the T3 and T8 thermomechanical treatments but varied in the thermomechanical
T851. There was an inverse relation between T1 phase density and corrosion resistance. The T3 treatments; severe localised
treatment with the highest corrosion resistance was the one with the lowest density of T1 phase. corrosion
The mechanisms of corrosion varied with the thermomechanical treatments.

Introduction
The mechanical and electrochemical behaviour of the Al–
Cu–Li alloys have been recently studied by many researchers
[1–11]. These alloys play an important role in the aerospace
industry [12]. The reason for the constantly growing interest
in the study of these materials is the possibility of substituting
the conventional Al alloys used in aircraft structures. These
materials have showed improvement in mechanical proper-
ties compared with previous generations of Al–Cu–Li alloys
and promote improvements in fuel efficiency and, as a conse-
quence, lower emission of CO2 gas. These alloys are particu-
larly suitable for any applications where the strength-to-
weight ratio and fatigue resistance are of major concern.
The AA2198 alloy studied in this work is one of the most
advanced alloys among the commercially available ones
from the third generation Al–Cu–Li alloys. It has been chosen
as the material for the fuselage skin sheet material of the A350
Airbus [13].
In Al–Cu–Li alloys, the elements Cu, Mg and Li are added
as alloying elements to improve the mechanical properties of
the alloys [14]. The microstructure of these alloys is com-
posed of micrometric particles, also called constituent par-
ticles (CPs), and nanometric hardening phases. In the
AA2198 alloy, the CPs are cathodic to the aluminium matrix
and cause localised attack around their periphery [15]. In Al–
Cu–Li alloys, the nanometric phases, such as the δ′ (Al3Li), Θ′
(Al2Cu), S (Al2CuMg) and T1 (Al2CuLi), contribute to their
mechanical resistance [16]. These phases are formed during
aging and are significantly affected by thermomechanical
treatments (tempers), which influence the mechanical and
corrosion resistance of the alloys [17]. For example, the
AA2020 alloy shows lower anisotropy degree in the peak
aged condition (T8) compared with the underaged (T3)
one. The higher amounts of T1 precipitates formed in the
T8 condition compared with the T3 reduce the tensile aniso-
tropy significantly [16]. Thus, many researchers have studied
the precipitation of the T1 phase during thermomechanical
treatments in order to improve the mechanical performance
of the Al–Li alloys [18,19].
The T1 phase plays an important role in the corrosion
resistance of Al–Cu–Li alloys. Buchheit et al. [15] proposed
that the dissolution of T1 particles preferentially located at
grain and subgrain boundaries in the AA2090 leads to inter-
granular attack. These authors also revealed that constituent
particles lead to galvanic corrosion at the particle/matrix
interface. Ma et al. [20] investigated the effects of microstruc-
ture on the corrosion resistance of the AA2099-T83 and
observed that the corrosion attack caused by the constituent
particles was superficial when compared with that caused
by T1 phase dissolution. They named this last type of attack
as severe localised corrosion (SLC). Li et al. [21] proposed
another corrosion mechanism associated with the T1 phase.
They suggested that upon exposure to corrosive environ-
ments, the anodic T1 phase initially undergoes selective dis-
solution of Li and Al and, subsequently, becomes cathodic
to the matrix due to Cu enrichment which results in the
attack of the surrounding matrix.
Zou et al. [22] investigated the influence of aging time on the
corrosion behaviour of the AA2198-T83 alloy through electro-
chemical tests in 3.5 wt-% NaCl environment. They revealed
that mechanical properties and corrosion resistance gradually
decreased with aging at 175°C until 18 h (peak aged), but after
this stage, the corrosion resistance increased due to T1 phase
precipitation. However, as mentioned earlier, many works
[2,10,11,18,19,23] have showed that precipitation of T1 phase
leads to low corrosion resistance in the alloys Al–Cu–Li.
Ye et al. [8] studied the effect of annealing on the corrosion
resistance of artificially aged AA2050 alloy (T6). They found
that annealing after cold-rolling reduced the alloy suscepti-
bility to intergranular corrosion due to heterogeneous pre-
cipitation of T1 phase.

CONTACT João Victor de Sousa Araujo joao-neutron@hotmail.com Instituto de Pesquisas Energéticas e Nucleares, IPEN/CNEN, Av. Prof. Lineu Prestes, 2242
São Paulo, Brazil
© 2019 Institute of Materials, Minerals and Mining Published by Taylor & Francis on behalf of the Institute
2 J. V. DE SOUSA ARAUJO ET AL.
Yan et al. [9] studied the naturally aged AA2050 alloy
(T351 designation), and the same alloy artificially aged at
155 and 200°C for different times. They concluded that the
intergranular corrosion found for some of the conditions
tested is controlled by mechanisms other than the T1 phase
precipitation and related it to solute segregation, with recent
evidence for grain boundary Li segregation in the AA2050-
T351 alloy [7]. These works showed that thermomechanical
conditions significantly affect the corrosion resistance of the
new-generation of Al–Cu–Li alloys and, consequently, the
corrosion behaviour related to each of the thermomechanical
treatment used needs proper investigation.
The present work investigates the microstructures related
to the AA2198 alloy in the T3, T8 and T851 temper con-
ditions and proposes corrosion mechanisms that are corre-
lated with the microstructure of the alloy.
Experimental
The chemical compositions and the temper conditions of the
AA2198 alloys with the T3, T8 and T851 designations used in
this study are presented in Tables 1 and 2, respectively.
Samples of the alloys were ground with silicon carbide
papers of #500, #1200 and #4000 and then polished with dia-
mond suspensions of 3 and 1 μm. The thicknesses of the alloy
samples in the T3, T8 and T851 conditions were 3, 4 and
1.6 mm, respectively.
The microstructures of the AA2198 alloys were observed
after etching in a solution with 2 (v/v)% hydrofluoric and
25 (v/v)% nitric acid. The evolution of the corrosion phenom-
ena was studied as a function of immersion time by surface
observation using a Leica DMLM optical microscope coupled
to a Leica EC3 camera and controlled by a LAS ES software.
In order to quantify the depths of corrosion penetration in the
alloys, a ZESCOPE model optical profilometer was used.
Analysis of the microstructure and corrosion evolution on
the surfaces of the aluminium alloys were carried out by Scan-
ning Electron Microscopy (SEM) using TM3000 and JSM-
6701F microscopes. Both microscopes are equipped with
energy dispersive X-ray spectroscopy (EDS) detectors.
Differential scanning calorimetry (DSC) data were
obtained in nitrogen (99.999 wt-%) atmosphere using a
DSC-50 SHIMADZU equipment coupled to a TA-60WS.
Samples were ground with silicon carbide paper before the
acquisition of DSC data. The weights of the samples
employed in the DSC tests were in the range of 20–30 mg.
The heating rate used in DSC measurements was
10°C min−1 and the scanning temperature ranged from
50 to 550 °C.
Table 1. Chemical composition (in wt-%.) obtained by inductively coupled
plasma – atomic emission spectroscopy (ICP-AES) of the Al–Cu–Li alloys used
in this study.
Elements (wt-%) AA2198-T3 AA2198-T8 AA2198-T851
Al Balance Balance
Cu 3.20 3.32
Li 1.02 0.96
Mg 0.30 0.31
Ag 0.29 0.20
Zr 0.38 0.51
Fe 0.04 0.04
Si 0.05 0.03
Zn 0.02 0.006
Mn 0.003 0.003
Cu/Li 3.1 3.5
Table 2 . Heat treatments for the aluminium alloys used in this study.
Heat treatment
condition Description
T3 (1) Solution heat treated; (2) cold worked; (3) naturally aged.
T8 (1) Solution heat treated; (2) cold worked (3) artificially aged.
T851 (1) Solution heat treated; (2) stress relieved by stretching;
(3) artificially aged.
Microhardness measurements were recorded from the
samples surface using a load of 300 gf for a dwell time of
10 s, and 20 measurements were taken from each alloy. A
Buehler 1600 Series microhardness tester was employed for
these measurements.
Scanning Kelvin Probe Force Microscopy (SKPFM) was
carried out using the Nanoscope IIIa MultiMode microscope
in tapping mode. The topographic and surface potential
images were obtained using the lift mode. The measurements
were performed at room temperature and humidity between
30 and 55%.
Corrosion resistance was evaluated by immersion test,
open circuit potential (OCP) measurements and electroche-
mical impedance spectroscopy (EIS) as a function of immer-
sion time. Electrochemical measurements were performed
using a three-electrode set-up configuration with the alu-
minium alloy samples as working electrodes. The reference
electrode used was an Ag/AgCl, (KClsat), and a platinum
wire was employed as counter-electrode. A surface area of
1.0 cm2 of the working electrode was exposed to the electro-
lyte. The experiments were carried out in naturally aerated
0.01 mol L−1 NaCl solution at temperature of (23 ± 2)°C.
EIS measurements were performed on a Solartron 1287
potentiostat coupled to a frequency response analyser
(FRA). The voltage perturbation range used in the EIS
measurements was 20 mV (rms), and the acquisition rate
was 10 points per decade in a frequency range of 10 kHz to
10 mHz. Each test was performed at least three times to
evaluate the reproducibility of the results.
Results
Microstructural characterisation
Elongated grains were observed aligned in the direction of
deformation for the alloys subjected to T3 and T8 thermo-
mechanical treatments (Figure 1(a,b,d,e)). This is common
in materials that are extruded or rolled [24]. Equiaxial grains
were observed on the surface (LT/L directions) of the alloy
subjected to the T851 treatment (Figure 1(c,f)). Furthermore,
etching of the AA2198-T851 revealed grains with features
that are related to grains with crystallographic orientation
whose higher packing planes 〈111〉 are oriented in the same
direction as the maximum shear stress [24,25], Figure 1(g).
This leads to the creation of slip bands which are preferred
locations for T1 phase precipitation. Slip bands are intro-
Balance duced in the materials during stretching processes and they
3.31 cause microstructural changes [11]. Figure 1(g) shows signifi-
0.97
0.31
cant differences among the grains. Grains A and B present
0.25 slip bands but not grains C and D.
0.40 The microstructure is also composed of constituent par-
0.04
0.03
ticles of micrometric sizes. These particles are formed during
0.006 casting due to the low solubility of iron in aluminium [4,26].
0.003 In each of the alloys tested, more than 100 constituent par-
3.4
ticles were analysed by EDS. These were preferentially aligned

Figure 1. Optical micrographs of AA2198 alloy with (a) T3, (b) T8, and (c) T851 tempers; (d), (e) and (f) are higher magnification images of the squared regions in (a),
(b), (c); and (g) is a higher magnification image of the squared region in (f).
in the direction of deformation (Figure 2(a)), and were found
as clusters (Figure 2(b,c)), or isolated, as shown in the circled
region in Figure 2(b). The constituent particles were predo-
minantly composed of Al, Cu and Fe (Figure 2(d)). It was
found that 92% of these particles in the alloy with T851 des-
ignation were mainly composed of Al, Cu, and Fe, and only
8% of them were composed of Al and Cu. The particles com-
posed of Al, Cu and Fe presented varied morphologies and
irregular shapes, Figure 3(a); whereas those with Al and Cu
displayed regular morphologies, either circular or rectangular
Figure 3(b).
The area fraction of the particles was quantified through
image analysis in an area of 220 × 170 μm2. The percentage
of these particles in the T3 and T851 alloys is similar, but
in the T8 designation it was nearly twice that of the others
studied (Figure 4). For alloy T851, the Cu/Fe ratio was in
the range of 2–7, whereas in the other tempers (T3 and T8)
this ratio was mainly in the range of 2–4, Figure 5. The par-
ticles in the T3 and T8 alloys displayed similar morphologies.
On the other hand, the T851 alloy showed differences in the
composition and morphologies of these particles in relation
CORROSION ENGINEERING, SCIENCE AND TECHNOLOGY 3
to the T3 and T8, and many of them were irregularly shaped.
The shape of the precipitates is determined by minimisation
of interface energy and strain energy [27]. The results showed
that the constituent particles distribution is more hetero-
geneous in the T851 designation.
The T1 phase (Al2CuLi) is the main hardening phase in
Al–Cu–Li alloys [28–30]. According to the literature [31],
the precipitation of this phase occurs at temperatures between
138 and 260°C. The presence of this phase in the tested alloys
was investigated by DSC curves. These curves allow the study
of precipitation and dissolution of second phases from
exothermic and endothermic peaks [31–35]. The height of
the peak indicates the intensity of the event [33]. The T3
alloy showed a high peak in the range of 240–260oC related
with the precipitation of T1 phase (Figure 6). The peak A is
associated with the dissolution of δ′ (AlLi3) that occurs
between 200 and 240 oC; peak B is associated with the precipi-
tation of T1 phase; while peaks C and D are associated with
T1 phase coarsening and dissolution, respectively [31]. It
has been reported that natural aging causes minor precipi-
tation of T1 phase in Al–Li alloys [18,36]. As a result, the
4 J. V. DE SOUSA ARAUJO ET AL.

Figure 2. SEM micrographs showing constituent particles in the 2198 alloy. (a) Constituent particles in the direction of deformation. (b) Higher magnification micro-
graph of the squared region of the micrograph (a). (c) Clusters of intermetallic over the alloy surface. (d) Typical EDX profile of the constituent particle.

T3 alloy has the largest amounts of Li in solid solution among
the tested tempers explaining the high peak of T1 precipi-
tation in the T3 designation. The lower peaks related to T1
phase precipitation in the T8 and T851 tempers (indicated
by square in Figure 6) compared to the T3 one is due to
the artificial aging of these alloys that favours precipitation
of this phase [36]. These results are supported by microhard-
ness measurements that showed an increase in the hardness
values for the alloys subjected to the T8 and T851 temper
treatments (Figure 7) compared with the T3. Although DSC
results did not show significant differences between the T8
and T851 thermomechanical treatments, the microhardness
measurements clearly differentiated these two treatments
with the latter alloy presenting higher hardness compared
to the first.
Corrosion immersion test
Figure 8 shows the evolution of corrosion on the surface of the
AA2198 alloy for the various treatments tested at increasing
periods of immersion in 0.01 mol L−1 NaCl solution. The loca-
lised corrosion in the T3 alloy was mainly associated with the
matrix surrounding the constituent particles due to the for-
mation of microgalvanic cells leading to trenching and shallow

Figure 3. (a,b) SEM micrographs of the constituent particles in the AA2198-T851 alloy with different morphologies and (c) typical EDX profile of the constituent
particle in (b).
 CORROSION ENGINEERING, SCIENCE AND TECHNOLOGY 5

Figure 4. Percentage of constituent particles in various tempers of the AA2198

alloy.

pits. The difference in potential between the matrix and con-

stituent particle was confirmed by SKPFM. Figure 9 shows the
topographic and volta potential maps of a coarse Al–Cu–Fe
intermetallic particle in the matrix of an AA2198 alloy. The esti-
mated mean volta potential difference between the particle and
the matrix, based on the analysis of 20 constituent particles was
in the range of 30 ± 9 mV (Figure 9(b,c)) with higher potentials
related to the constituent particle relative to the matrix. These
results show that galvanic coupling leading to localised attack
might occur between the particles and matrix.
For the T8 and T851 alloys, two forms of corrosion were
identified: trenching and shallow pits associated with the con-
stituent particles and SLC inside the grains, related to harden-
ing phases. These two types of attacks were observed from the
early hours of immersion. In the T3 alloy, however, only loca-
lised attack associated with the constituent particles was
identified as the main corrosion process (Figure 10(a,b)).
For the T8, the attack progressed in the direction of defor-
mation as indicated by the arrow in Figure 10(c) and the
SLC development led to the selective dissolution of grains
(Figure 10(d)). For the T851 alloy, attacks associated with
the selective dissolution of slip bands (Figure 10(f)) were
observed. When the alloy is corroded, slip bands are revealed
due to the activities of T1 phase (Figure 1(e–g)). In the T8 and
T851 alloys, intragranular attack predominated, and the grain
boundaries were preserved, as evidenced in Figure 10(e). Figure 5. Histogram of Cu/Fe ratio in the constituent particles in the (a) T3, (b)
The depths of corrosion attack in the various alloys tested T8 and (c) T851 tempers of the AA2198 alloy.
were evaluated by optical profilometry (OP) for 50 sites of
trenches (LC) and SCL on the alloys after 24 h of immersion
test. OP has been previously used to investigate differences in
depths of corrosion attack [37]. In this study, the mean
depth of penetration estimated by OP for the trenches (LC)
was in the range of 1–5 μm, whereas in the SLC sites, the
mean depths of penetration was dependent on the temper.
For instance, it was in the range from 8 to 15 μm, for the T8
temper, and from 8 to 35 μm, for the T851. Figure 11 shows
compares the penetration depths related to the two main
types of attack in the AA2198 alloy for the three thermomech-
anical treatments.

Electrochemical tests
OCP variation with time of exposure to test solution is pre- Figure 6. DSC heat flow curves for the AA2198 alloy with tempers T3, T8 and
sented in Figure 12. It shows that the OCP for the T3 temper T851.
6 J. V. DE SOUSA ARAUJO ET AL.
Figure 7. Microhardness of AA2198 alloy with T3, T8 and T851 tempers.
was nearly 100 mV nobler than for the T8 and T851 ones.
This could be due to the higher amounts of copper in solid
solution in the T3 alloy. Also, the OCP related to the T3
was more stable than for the T8 and T851 one. The initial
decrease in OCP after immersion must be related to oxide
film attack. The results suggest that the oxide film on the
T3 alloy is more resistant than that on the other alloys. The
greater instabilities for the T8 and T851 alloys compared to
the T3 is most likely due to the greater amounts of T1
phase in the first tempers.
EIS results for the three thermomechanical treatments
tested (T3, T8 and T851) as a function of immersion time
in 0.01 mol L−1 NaCl solution are shown for the AA2198
alloy in Figure 13(a–d) as Nyquist and Bode phase angle dia-
grams. These results suggest the presence of two-time con-
stants for the T8 and T851alloys, and three-time constants
for the T3 alloy. The highest impedances were related to
this last temper. The impedance decreased with time for all
tempers. Similar impedance results were obtained for the
T8 and T851 alloys. Evidence of diffusional controlled pro-
cesses was observed at low frequencies, mainly for the T8
and T851 tempers. Diffusion became increasingly
Figure 8. Optical micrographs of AA2198 with T3, T8 and T851 tempers after various periods of immersion in 0.01 mol L−1 NaCl solution.
predominant with time of test for the T3 temper and the elec-
trochemical behaviour of all alloys tested was similar after
24 h of test. Only the experimental data for high to medium
frequencies, a flattened capacitive arc, were fitted using a
CPE//R pair. These are related to charge transfer processes
coupled to the charging of the double layer. A high quality
fitting with chi-squared values in the order of 10−4 for T8
and T851 tempers, and of nearly 10−3 for the T3, was
obtained. The fitting and experimental results are compared
in Figure 14(a–c) as a function of time. A constant phase
element (CPE) was used instead of an ideal capacitor to
take into consideration the heterogeneity of the surface, as
already mentioned in the literature [38,39]. The CPE values
obtained from data fitting of the CPE//R pair for the T8
and T851 conditions, Figure 14(a), varied between approxi-
mately 15 and 30 μF cm−². These values are typical of char-
ging of the double layer. The oxide layer remaining on the
surface also has a slight contribution to this time constant.
An initial increase in R was accompanied by a decrease in
CPE values, Figure 14(b). This indicates an initial reduction
in surface activity that could due to the partial coverage of
active sites at the surface. It was subsequently followed by R
decrease and CPE increase showing that new sites of the sur-
face were activated resulting in higher proportion of electro-
chemically active areas at the surface with time. This was
supported by surface observation with time. α values
increased with time from around 0.8 to 0.9, Figure 14(c).
The results also showed that the temper related to the lowest
CPE and highest R values was the T3 one that is indicative of
the highest resistance of this temper to corrosion attack.
Discussion
The dissimilarities between the constituent particles in the
alloy of this study, AA2198, and that used in the work of
Ma et al. [4], AA2099-T8, are explained by the differences
in the alloys compositions. The AA2099 presents lower Cu
and Ag content, but higher Li, Mn and Zr compared to the
AA2198. Slight differences in the composition of Al–Cu–Li
alloys lead to significant changes in their microstructures
 CORROSION ENGINEERING, SCIENCE AND TECHNOLOGY 7

Figure 9. (a) AFM image of the surface of an AA2198-T8 alloy over a Cu,Fe-rich constituent particle; (b) corresponding surface potential map; and (c) volta potential
line analysis across the Cu, Fe-rich constituent particle.

Figure 10. SEM micrographs of AA2198 with different tempers after 24 h immersion in 0.01 mol L−1 NaCl solution: (a,b)T3; (c,d) T8; and (e,f) T851.

Figure 11. OCPs of AA2198 alloy with T3, T8 and T851 tempers in 0.01 mol L−1 NaCl solution.
8 J. V. DE SOUSA ARAUJO ET AL.
Figure 12. Optical profilometry and SEM images of AA2198 alloy with different
tempers after 24 h immersion in 0.01 mol L−1 NaCl solution.
and, consequently, in their corrosion resistance. Ma et al. [4]
revealed three groups of intermetallic compounds with differ-
ent compositions, that were classified as: (a) low, (b) inter-
mediate and (c) high Cu-content particles. MacRae et al.
[40] also investigated the AA2099-T8 alloy and found at
Figure 13. Comparison of EIS results for the AA2198 alloys with T3, T8 and T851 tempers at various times of immersion in 0.01 mol L−1 NaCl solution.
least five different compositions of constituent particles con-
taining some, or all, of the following elements Al, Cu, Fe, Mn
and Zn, and some constituent particles contained Li. In the
present study, however, one type of constituent particles lar-
gely predominated (92%), that is, that composed of Al, Cu
and Fe. This shows that each Al–Cu–Li alloy presents its
own characteristics and, consequently, the corrosion resist-
ance of each of this kind of alloy deserves proper
investigation.
The microstructure differences among the Al–Cu–Li
alloys and its effect on their corrosion resistance can be
explained by their fabrication history. The T3 treatment com-
prises solution heat treatment followed by cold rolling and
natural aging, whereas the T8 and T851 treatments involve
artificial aging. Artificial aging promotes nucleation of T1
phase [2,23]. This was confirmed by the DSC curves and
microhardness measurements. SLC was not seen in the
AA2198-T3 temper during immersion test but abound in
the T8 and T851 alloys. Many authors have reported mechan-
isms for SLC initiation and propagation that were related
with the heterogeneity of plastic deformation [2,19,41]. As
the plastic deformation during alloy production is not uni-
form. Some grains are more deformed than others, and grains
with different levels of deformation, according to their
 CORROSION ENGINEERING, SCIENCE AND TECHNOLOGY 9

Figure 14. Variation of CPE, R and α as a function of time of immersion in 0.01 mol L−1 NaCl solution. These values were obtained from fitting the experimental data
to the EEC of Figure 13.

orientation, are created. T1 phase precipitates preferentially at
dislocations and, consequently, highly deformed grains pre-
sent high density of T1 phase and these are highly susceptible
to corrosion attack. Recently, Zhang et al. [42] in their study
on the 2A97-T6 alloy, a newly developed Al–Cu–Li alloy,
proposed this explanation. Ma et al. [2], in their study on
the AA2099-T8 suggested that the SLC was related to attack
of the T1 phase preferentially precipitated in deformation
bands and, therefore, to preferential dissolution of these
bands. The corrosion attack in the AA2198-T8 alloy of this
study was also s related to the deformation bands introduced
during cold working. This resulted in intragranular attack of
the grains with high strain. Since, in the T851 condition,
artificial aging is preceded by a stretching stage to induce
stress relief before cold working, this stage results in a particu-
lar type of attack, that is, that related to slip bands resulting
from the stretching stage.
The variations in the depths of attack due to SLC which
were observed between the T8 and T851 tempers result
from a heterogeneous distribution of T1 phase in both alloys,
and the dissimilarities in this phase content, as indicated by
the microhardness measurements. On the other hand, the
differences in depth of corrosion penetration by trenching
might be related to the different sizes of constituent particles.
The differences in the OCP values of the three tested alloys
show that artificial aging plays a significant role in the electro-
chemical behaviour of this alloy. The noblest potentials
related to the T3 alloy is due to the highest amount of copper

Figure 15. Schematic diagrams illustrating the corrosion mechanism associated with constituent particles: (a) surface after polishing; (b) constituent particle after
polishing; (c) corrosion reactions during the immersion in NaCl; (d) features corrosion after exposure to the solution; and (e) surface final after testing.
10 J. V. DE SOUSA ARAUJO ET AL.

in solid solution in this alloy. The higher kinetics of surface
attack in the case of the T8 and T851 alloys is related to the
higher amount of T1 in these two alloys compared to the
T3. The higher amounts of T1 phase in the artificially aged
alloys (T8 and T851) also resulted in increase in the corroded
areas with the removal of passive film and decrease in OCP.
Huang et al. [6] related the effect of aging time with the
OCP changes in the 1460 alloy. They showed that lower
OCP values were related to longer aging times and correlated
it to the increase in the volume of T1 phase with extended
aging times.
In this work, corrosion mechanisms were proposed for the
localised corrosion in each of the three tempers studied. For
the T3 temper (Figure 15), corrosion initiated at the areas sur-
rounding the constituent particles which are preferentially
located along the deformation direction, Figure 15(a). Figure
15(b) shows the constituent particles in cross section after the
initiation of the corrosion process. The anodic reactions at the
matrix surrounding the particles result in copper enrichment
due to the preferential dissolution of aluminium and lithium
and are counter balanced by oxygen reduction on the catho-
dic particles, Figure 15(c). These processes result in trenching
in the matrix surrounding the constituent particles, Figure 15
(d). The attack related to the constituent particles was superfi-
cial, Figure 15(e), as observed in Figure 10(a,b). Trenching
also occurs in the T8 and T851 tempers due to the similar
cathodic particles in these alloys. But, in these last two tem-
pers, SLC predominated, as illustrated by the schematic
images in Figures 16 and 17, respectively.
The plastic deformation of individual grains depends on
grain orientation and consequently, some grains are more
deformed than others, Figure 16(a). Assuming that grain B
is more deformed that grains A and C, the T1 phase density
is higher inside grain B, Figure 16(b). In the T851 condition,
the stretching before artificial aging favours the formation of
slip bands, Figure 17(a) and preferential precipitation related
to them, Figure 17(b) The most active elements in T1 phase
(Li and Al) are preferentially dissolved resulting in

Figure 16. Schematic diagrams illustrating the corrosion mechanism for the T8 condition: (a) surface after polishing; (b) grain with higher density T1 phase (c), (d)
and (e) corrosion reactions during the immersion in NaCl; (f) corrosion features after exposure to the solution.

Figure 17. Schematic diagram illustrating the corrosion mechanism for the T8 condition: (a) surface after polishing; (b) grains with higher density T1 phase (c), (d)
and (e) corrosion reactions during the immersion in NaCl; (f) features corrosion after exposure to the solution.

crystallographic attack in the alloy, and SLC, Figures 16 and
17(c,d) and hydrogen evolution, (e), Figures 16 and 17(f).
T1 phase precipitation inside the grains, for the T8 and
T851 tempers, explains the intragranular attack observed.
However, the mechanism of propagation in these two tem-
pers is different. For the T8, selective dissolution of the
most deformed grains was observed, Figure 10(b,c). For the
T851 condition, SLC is related to the selective dissolution of
slip bands. The slip bands are anodic to their surroundings
and due to the potential difference between the bands (with
a great number of T1 phase) and the T1-free matrix, sur-
rounding the bands, propagation of the corrosion attack
occurs along the slip bands, Figure 10(e,f).
Conclusions
The results of this work showed that the microstructure and
the mechanisms of corrosion in the AA2198 alloy are strongly
affected by their thermomechanical treatments. The cor-
rosion mechanism related to the T3 thermomechanical treat-
ment is due to galvanic coupling between the cathodic
constituent particles and the anodic matrix, leading to tren-
ching and shallow pits. Differently from the T3 thermomech-
anical treatment, the T8 and T851 presented SLC as the main
corrosion mechanism. This mechanism was related to intra-
granular attack of the grains with high strain, according to
their crystallographic directions, and with high T1 phase den-
sity. The stretching step in the T851 designation modified the
features of intragranular attack propagation relatively to the
T8. While in the T8 temper, corrosion propagation was
through the slip dislocations, in the T851, the corrosive attack
propagated through the slip bands resulting from the stretch-
ing step.
Acknowledgements
We thank Olandir V. Correa from IPEN for technical support in DSC
analysis and we are grateful to the ‘Laboratório de Filmes Finos do Insti-
tuto de Física da Universidade de São Paulo’, Brazil, for the SPM facility.
Disclosure statement
No potential conflict of interest was reported by the authors.
Funding
The authors are grateful to FAPESP (Proc. 2013/13235-6) for financial
support for this research, CNPq (2017-9/169569) for the grants of
João Victor de Sousa Araujo, CNPq (2015-4/133557) for the grants of
Aline de Fatima Santos Bugarin, FAPESP (2017/03095-3) for the grants
of Uyime Donatus, FAPESP (2016/20572-7) for the grants of Fernanda
Martins Queiroz and CAPES PROEX (88882.333459/2019-01) for the
grants of Caruline de Souza Carvalho Machado.
Data availability statement
The raw/processed data required to reproduce these findings
cannot be shared at this time as the data also forms part of an
continuing study.
ORCID
João Victor de Sousa Araujo http://orcid.org/0000-0001-6375-0480
Uyime Donatus http://orcid.org/0000-0001-8871-3571
CORROSION ENGINEERING, SCIENCE AND TECHNOLOGY 11
Caruline de Souza Carvalho Machado http://orcid.org/0000-0003-
4172-119X
Fernanda Martins Queiroz http://orcid.org/0000-0003-3309-1116
Antonello Astarita http://orcid.org/0000-0003-3214-3375
Isolda Costa http://orcid.org/0000-0002-4987-3334
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