J. Mater. Sci. Technol. ›› 2019, Vol. 35 ›› Issue (8): 1618-1628.DOI: 10.1016/j.jmst.2019.03.026

• Orginal Article • Previous Articles     Next Articles

Electrochemical corrosion behaviour of Sn-Zn-xBi alloys used for miniature detonating cords

Guangyu Liu(), Shohreh Khorsand(), Shouxun Ji*()   

  1. Brunel Centre for Advanced Solidification Technology (BCAST), Brunel University London, Uxbridge, Middlesex, UB8 3PH, United Kingdom
  • Received:2018-10-19 Revised:2018-10-31 Accepted:2019-02-20 Online:2019-08-05 Published:2019-06-19
  • Contact: Ji Shouxun
  • About author:

    1The authors contributed equally to this work.

Abstract:

Recently, Sn-Zn-Bi alloys have been reported to be the sheath material for miniature detonating cords, due to appropriate mechanical properties, ease of manufacturing, and low cost. Bi addition was found beneficial to the mechanical performance of Sn-Zn. However, limited information about the influence of Bi on the corrosion properties of Sn-Zn alloys has been provided. In this work, electrochemical corrosion behaviours of Sn-3Zn-xBi (x = 0, 1, 3, 5, 7 wt%) alloys were investigated using potentiodynamic polarization and electrochemical impedance spectroscopy (EIS) techniques, to explore the effects of Bi on the corrosion performance of Sn-Zn alloys. The corrosion mechanism of Sn-Zn-Bi alloys was analysed through microstructure examination on the surface of alloys after corrosion measurements. Results indicated that the addition of 1 wt% Bi increased the corrosion susceptibility of the Sn-3Zn alloy, mainly attributed to the coarsened and more uniformly distributed corrosion-vulnerable Zn-rich precipitates, while further increasing the Bi contents decreased the corrosion susceptibility of Sn-3Zn-xBi alloys due to the higher fraction of nobler Bi particles serving as anodic barriers. The Sn-3Zn-7Bi possessed the best corrosion resistance among all Sn-Zn-Bi alloys investigated. The role of Bi on corrosion was considerably discussed.

Key words: Sn-Zn-Bi alloy, Polarization, EIS, Zn-rich precipitate, Bi particles