Effects of cavitation erosion-induced surface damage on the corrosion behaviour of TA31 Ti alloy

This study used electrochemical noise technology to analyse the effects of surface damage induced by cavitation erosion (CE) on the pitting and passivation behaviours of TA31 Ti alloy. According to the results, TA31 Ti alloy exhibited high corrosion resistance in NaCl solutions. However, the residual tensile stress layer generated during grinding and polishing reduced its passivation ability. Subsequently, the residual tensile stress layer was eliminated after CE for 1 h, improving the passivation ability of the material. Thereafter, pitting corrosion was initiated on the material surface. Increasing the CE time from 1 h to 2 h gradually decreased the passivation ability of the alloy. A large number of CE holes promoted the transition from pitting initiation to metastable pitting growth. which gradually dominated the surface of TA31 Ti alloy. The damage mechanism of uniform thinning increased the passivation ability and stability of the alloy with the increase in CE time from 2 h to 6 h. Therefore, the surface of TA31 Ti alloy was dominated by the initiation of pitting corrosion.