Grain size effect on corrosion behaviour of TiZrNb medium-entropy alloys

Lei Yu, Yong-Qiang Yan, Wen-Tao Zhang, Haoran Zhang, Junjie Wu, Chang Liu, Lu Yao*, Jian Lu, Ge Wu*

*Corresponding author for this work

Research output: Journal Publications and ReviewsRGC 21 - Publication in refereed journalpeer-review

Abstract

The effects of grain size on the corrosion resistance of TiZrNb medium-entropy alloys (MEAs) in physiological saline (0.9 wt% NaCl solution) were investigated. MEAs generally consist of three principal elements with similar atomic fractions, and their mixing entropy lies between that of conventional alloys and high-entropy alloys. The results reveal that the corrosion resistance of TiZrNb declines as the grain size decreases. The deterioration in corrosion resistance can be attributed to the synergistic effect between the inevitable defect accumulation and grain refinement induced by surface mechanical attrition treatment (SMAT), which collectively aggravate localized corrosion propagation. The passive film on the TiZrNb MEAs consists of TiO2, ZrO2, Nb2O5, and hydroxides with a bilayer structure. The inner layer is denser and dominates the corrosion resistance of the alloy. However, the SMAT-treated alloy exhibits substantial localized corrosion, accompanied by a discontinuous passive film. SMAT-induced defects accelerate selective dissolution of matrix elements, resulting in Nb depletion within passive films and consequently elevating pitting corrosion susceptibility of TiZrNb alloys. This paper offers new insights into the corrosion behaviour of TiZrNb MEAs with different grain sizes. © 2025 Elsevier B.V.
Original languageEnglish
Article number180338
JournalJournal of Alloys and Compounds
Volume1025
Online published9 Apr 2025
DOIs
Publication statusPublished - 25 Apr 2025

Funding

G. Wu gratefully acknowledge supports from National Natural Science Foundation of China (52271114 and 52361165617) and National Natural Science Fund for Excellent Young Scientists Fund Program (Overseas). We thank the technical support from Peng Zhang, Yuanbin Qin, Pengcheng Zhang, Chaowei Guo, Xiaohua Cheng, and Danli Zhang at Xi'an Jiaotong University.

Research Keywords

  • Corrosion resistance
  • Grain sizes
  • Medium-entropy alloys
  • Surface mechanical attrition treatment

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