Structure and corrosion behavior of Cu-26Zn-5Al alloy processed by accumulative roll bonding and heat treatment

Cu-26Zn-5Al shape memory alloy (SMA) was produced by accumulative roll bonding (ARB) and subsequent heat treatment. In this regard, different austenitization cycles and cooling conditions, including furnace, air, cold-water, and boiling-water cooling were experimented. The heat-treated specimens were characterized by scanning electron microscopy (SEM), differential scanning calorimetry (DSC), and X-ray diffraction (XRD). The corrosion behavior of the specimens was also studied by potentiodynamic polarization and electrochemical impedance spectroscopy (EIS) in a 3.5 wt% NaCl solution. The results revealed that only by cooling in the boiling- and ice-water environments, a fully martensitic microstructure showing the shape memory effect is obtained. In contrast, by using the other cooling conditions, different phases like α-phase (Cu-saturated solid solution) are formed as well as martensite. From the corrosion testing results, it was found that the SMA specimens with the fully martensitic microstructure have the highest corrosion resistance, where cooling in boiling water was recognized to be optimal. In conclusion, Cu-26Zn-5Al SMA with an improved corrosion resistance can be produced by ARB followed by controlled heat treatment.