Relationship Between Induction Time for Pitting and Pitting Potential for High-Purity Aluminum

The objective of this study was to determine if a distribution of pit induction times (from potentiostatic experiments) could be used to predict a distribution of pitting potentials (from potentiodynamic experiments) for high-purity aluminum. Pit induction times were measured for 99.99 Al in 50 mM NaCl at potentials of -0.35, -0.3, -0.25, and -0.2 V vs. saturated calomel electrode. Analysis of the data showed that the pit germination rate generally was an exponential function of the applied potential; however, a subset of the germination rate data appeared to be mostly potential insensitive. The germination rate behavior was used as an input into a mathematical relationship that provided a prediction of pitting potential distribution. Good general agreement was found between the predicted distribution and an experimentally determined pitting potential distribution, suggesting that the relationships presented here provide a suitable means for quantitatively describing pit germination rate.