Effects of pH, surface finish and thermal treatment on the corrosion of AlFeNi aluminum alloy. Characterization of oxide layers

Abstract The aluminum alloy AlFeNi used as fuel cladding for the Jules Horowitz Reactor (JHR) may undergo corrosion in the reactor environment. In order to qualify the corrosion behavior of the fuel elements of the JHR in accidental conditions, several specimens of AlFeNi have been corroded at 250 °C for different durations (9–34 days) in distilled water at various pH (4.9, 5.2 and 5.6) chosen to simulate that currently considered for the JHR. On all specimens, the only crystalline corrosion product formed is boehmite (AlOOH). The corrosion film is composed of three oxide layers which show through thickness chemical composition variations. The iron–nickel precipitates pre-existing in the metal matrix are present in the inner and intermediate oxide layers though oxidized. For long corrosion times, some of the iron and nickel particles are released in the water and some precipitation is observed at the surface of the oxide layer. The effect of surface finish (as received or polished) and thermal treatment (annealed and not annealed) on the oxide growth rate has also been investigated. For durations over 25 days, pH = 5.6 appears to be more favorable than pH = 5.2 and 4.9 in terms of oxide thickness and weight gain limitation. This effect of pH is however reduced on unpolished specimens. The effect of surface finish on the corrosion behavior as measured by optical microscopy appears to be strong, especially for pH = 4.9 where polished samples exhibited an accelerated evolution of the oxide thickness and of the mass gain. This could be due to the combined effect of a strong acid solution (pH = 4.9) and of the local microstructural changes formed at the interface through polishing. The effect of thermal treatment on the behavior of unpolished AlFeNi specimens during corrosion tests in the conditions investigated was found to be small. In this study, microstructural and chemical analyses were performed on the corroded specimens in order to get a better understanding of the corrosion kinetics. The crystallographic nature of the boehmite layers investigated by X-ray diffraction is unaffected by the pH of the solution. Iron precipitates were identified on the oxide surface beyond 34 days of corrosion by Environmental Scanning Electron Microscope (ESEM). Finally, Electron Probe Micro-Analysis (EPMA) was used to determine the chemical composition of the metal matrix and of the different oxide layers and precipitates versus the pH of the solution.