We carried out a comparative study on both the stress corrosion response and corrosion damage characteristics of aluminum alloy 2219, both the base material and a friction stir welding (FSW) counterpart upon exposure to exfoliation corrosion (EXCO) solution. The results reveal that the test specimen containing an FSW joint reveals better electrochemical corrosion resistance than that taken from the base metal. When test specimens upon exposure to EXCO solution are concurrently subjected to a tensile stress, since the mechanical properties of the FSW joint are lower than the base metal, a test specimen containing an FSW joint is more easily prone to the early initiation of fine microscopic cracks. This makes the test specimen containing the FSW joint to be less resistant to stress corrosion damage than that taken from the base metal for the various levels of applied stress and exposure time to EXCO solution. The average corrosion depth of the test specimen containing the FSW joint is less than that of the base metal, while the maximum corrosion depth of it is greater than that of the base metal. This reveals that test specimen containing the FSW joint is more susceptible to damage and degradation than test specimen taken from the base metal.

This study attempts to provide a theoretical estimate coupled with an analysis of the measured data to predict pitting damage of an aluminum alloy 2219 under the conjoint influence of mechanical load and corrosive environment. In accordance with the basic principle of crater growth coupled with the synergistic influences of mechanical and chemical effects, the law governing the presence and growth of corrosion pits was studied. Based on the concept of microscopic damage mechanics, porosity as a damage variable was introduced and the resulting model for estimating the reduction in elastic modulus of the material that has experienced observable damage due to pitting was established. Accelerated corrosion tests and uniaxial tensile tests are carried out, and a research-grade microscope coupled with a laser range finder was used to study the formation, presence, and growth of the pits with time. It was found that the corrosion pit in the chosen aluminum alloy can be simulated as a semi-ellipsoid, and the relationship between the depth of the pit and applied stress is an exponential function. This enabled in establishing the influence of alloy chemistry on nature, extent, and severity of damage due to pitting. The macroscopic morphology of the damaged specimens after corrosion was carefully observed and analyzed. The influence of time of exposure to the environment and applied load on damage due to pitting was verified. A comparison between the calculated results and experimental data reveals an overall correctness of the method developed and discussed in this paper.