Effect of Pre-treatment on Corrosion Performance of AZ31B Magnesium Alloy Panel 2010-01-0725

AZ31B Mg sheet is being considered for automotive applications. This study investigates the effect of pre-treatments, such as heat-treatments and surface treatments, on the corrosion performance of AZ31B sheet, with a goal of learning which pre-treatment can improve corrosion resistance of the sheet material in production. It is found that the heat-treatment and oxidation during a warm and hot forming (WHF) process will not deteriorate the corrosion performance of the AZ31B sheet; polishing and acid etching can clean the surface and significantly increase the corrosion resistance, but corrosion can be accelerated by sandblasting which contaminates the surface. The change in corrosion performance can be associated with surface cleaning or contamination of the sheet by these pre-treatments. Furthermore, the influence of a pre-treatment on the uncoated AZ31B sheet may affect its corrosion behavior after coating. According to this study, conventional sandblasting is not recommended to remove damaged coatings and corrosion products on a Mg alloy part for coating repair. If used, deep acid cleaning should follow to eliminate the detrimental effect of sandblasting.