Use of aluminum alloys for automotive applications is growing steadily. Galvanic corrosion is a major concern for those alloys. Because of the predominate use of steels in the automotive industry, the majority of accelerated test procedures commonly accepted by the industry are designed for cosmetic corrosion and perforation of steels. SAE J2334 and Ford Arizona Proving Ground (Ford APG) tests are two examples. Adopting those tests for galvanic corrosion of Al alloys without any fundamental understanding of the process may lead to misleading
results. In this paper, electrochemical studtes were conducted to examine the acceleration effects of several parameters on different types of corrosion. Galvanic corrosion of aluminum 6111 alloy and cold rolled steel (Al/ CRS) couples and general corrosion of cold rolled steel substrates were studied.
Keywords: aluminum, steel, automotive, corrosion, galvanic, electrochemical, cyclic test, humidity, temperature, NaCl concentration