Effects of applied potential on the stress corrosion cracking behavior of 7003 aluminum alloy in acid and alkaline chloride solutions

Potentiodynamic polarization tests and slow strain rate test (SSRT) in combination with fracture morphology observations were conducted to investigate the stress corrosion cracking (SCC) behavior of 7003 aluminum alloy (AA7003) in acid and alkaline chloride solutions under various applied potentials (E_a). The results show that AA7003 is to a certain extent susceptible to SCC via anodic dissolution (AD) at open-circuit potential (OCP) and is highly susceptible to hydrogen embrittlement (HE) at high negative E_a in the solutions with pH levels of 4 and 11. The susceptibility increases with negative shift in the potential when E_a is less than -1000 mV vs. SCE. However, the susceptibility distinctly decreases because of the inhibition of AD when E_a is equal to -1000 mV vs. SCE. In addition, the SCC susceptibility of AA7003 in the acid chloride solution is higher than that in the alkaline solution at each potential. Moreover, the effect of hydrogen on SCC increases with increasing hydrogen ion concentration.