Effects of Heat Treatment on Exfoliation Corrosion, Intergranular Corrosion, Stress Corrosion Cracking, and Joining Corrosion of AA7075 with Advanced Aging and T6

AA7075 is susceptible to localized corrosion like exfoliation corrosion (EXCO), intergranular corrosion (IGC), and stress corrosion cracking (SCC). Its susceptibility is strongly affected by heat treatments. In this study, the effects of two heat treatments applied to AA7075 alloy at a different time and temperature on EXCO, IGC, and SCC were investigated. Furthermore, a joining corrosion evaluation using self-piercing riveting (SPR) was conducted. It was concluded that, when compared to the traditional T6 aging process, the samples subjected to a novel advanced aging process with a significantly reduced aging time were comparable with respect to the resistance to EXCO, IGC, SCC, and SPR joining corrosion.