This review provided some recent progress of the research on corrosion mechanisms of magnesium and its alloys and a basis for follow-on research. Galvanic corrosion, pitting corrosion, intergranular corrosion (IGC), filiform corrosion, crevice corrosion, stress corrosion cracking (SCC), and corrosion fatigue (CF) were discussed. The influence of metallurgical factors such as alloying elements, microstructure and secondary phases, processing factors such as heat treatment and weld, and environmental factors including temperature, relative humidity, solution pH values and concentration on corrosion were discussed. In particular, a mechanism of pitting corrosion caused by AlMn particles was proposed. The corrosion properties of AZ91D weld material were investigated.
A protecting zinc and aluminum coating on the surface of AZ91D magnesium alloys was obtained by thermal spraying to improve the corrosion and wear resistance performances. In order to enhance the combination between magnesium alloy matrix and zinc and aluminum coating, the sample was heat-treated at 300℃for 2 h, then, the cross-section patterns, XRD pattern, micro-hardness, wear and corrosion resistance abilities were researched. The results indicate that the interface between the coating and substrate is metallurgical bond, and a transitional fusion layer is formed by diffusion. The micro-scale abrasion test and polarization test in 3% NaCl solution show that the diffusion-treated specimen has better wear and corrosion resistance performances in comparison with the undiffusion-treated and substrate magnesium alloys; in addition, it has relatively higher micro-hardness than the undiffusion-treated magnesium alloys.
