Effects of Hafnium Addition on the Pitting Corrosion Behavior of Ti Alloys in Electrolyte Containing Chloride Ion

The aim of this study was to investigate effects of hafnium content on the corrosion behavior of Ti alloys in electrolyte containing chloride ion. For this study, Ti-Hf binary alloys contained 10 wt%, 20 wt% and 30 wt% Hf were manufactured in a vacuum arc-melting furnace and subjected to heat treatment for 12h at $1000^{\circ}C$ in an argon atmosphere. The pitting corrosion behavior of the specimens was examined through potentiodynamic and potentiostatic tests in 0.9 wt% NaCl electrolyte at $36.5{\pm}1^{\circ}C$. The corrosion morphology of Ti-xHf alloys was investigated using optical microscopy (OM) and X-ray diffractometer (XRD). From the optical microstructures and XRD results, needle-like martensite ($\alpha$') phases of the Ti-xHf alloys increased with an increase of Hf addition. Corrosion current density $(I_{corr})$ and current density $(I_{300mV})$ in passive region decreased, whereas, corrosion potential increased with Hf content. At the constant potential ($300mV_{SCE}$), current density decreased as time increased.