Mechanisms of corrosive freeze-thaw damage in AA7075 using time-resolved x-ray microtomography and correlative electron microscopy

Aluminum aircraft structures experience severe corrosion from exposure to aggressive chloride environments, including cyclic freezing and thawing of residual water during ascent and descent, introducing a cyclic freeze-thaw component to the corrosion process. While corrosion mechanisms in aircraft structures are well studied at constant temperatures, the microstructural and mechanistic behavior under freeze-and-thaw conditions remains unclear. To understand transformations induced by cyclic temperature, we used three-dimensional (3D) x-ray computed tomography (XCT) with scanning electron microscopy (SEM) to study the behavior of AA7075-T651 in a simulated seawater environment undergoing freezing and thawing cycles. Rods immersed in saltwater were thermally cycled above and below freezing, and structural changes were intermittently characterized in 3D. Under freeze-thaw conditions, cracks initiated within corrosion pits through ice expansion, causing progressive crevice growth and spalling along inclusions and grain boundaries with intermediate misorientation angles. Damage mechanisms in freeze-thaw and conventional corrosion environments are compared, with correlations to microstructural evolution.