Influence of Pulse Frequency on the Wear and Corrosion Resistance of Al-4.5Mg-3Si Alloy

In this work, the influence of pulse frequency in the electric pulse treatment (EPT) on the wear and corrosion resistance of Al-4.5Mg-3Si alloy has been investigated by using a ring block friction tester, electrochemical workstation, stereo microscope, laser scanning confocal microscope, scanning electron microscope, and x-ray diffractometer. Results have shown that the hardness of samples with EPT significantly improved, and the volume of the Mg₂Si phase was lower than those of the original sample. And the wear and corrosion resistance of Al-4.5Mg-3Si alloy was significantly improved by EPT. When the pulse frequency was 7 Hz, the maximum hardness was 77.100 HBS, and the volume fraction of the Mg₂Si phase was reduced from 38.28 to 33.81%. The self-corrosion potential was increased from − 1.3241 to − 1.2764 V, self-corrosion current density was reduced from 1.2726 × 10⁻⁵ to 1.0048 × 10⁻⁵ A/cm², and the lowest average corrosion rate was 113.10 g/m² h.