Corrosion behaviour of groundnut shell ash and silicon carbide hybrid reinforced Al-Mg-Si alloy matrix composites in 3.5% NaCl and 0.3M H2SO4 solutions

The corrosion behaviour of Al-Mg-Si alloy based composites reinforced with groundnut shell ash (GSA) and silicon carbide (SiC) was investigated. The aim is to assess the corrosion properties of Al-Mg-Si alloy based hybrid reinforced composites developed using different mix ratios of GSA (a cheaply processed agro waste derivative which served as partial replacement for SiC) and SiC as reinforcing materials. GSA and SiC mixed in weight ratios 0:1, 1:3, 1:1, 3:1, and 1:0 were utilized to prepare 6 and 10 wt% of the reinforcing phase with Al‐Mg‐Si alloy as matrix using two‐step stir casting method. Mass loss and corrosion rate measurement was used to study the corrosion behaviour of the produced composites in 3.5% NaCl and 0.3M H2SO4 solutions. The results show that the Al-Mg-Si alloy based composites containing 6 and 10 wt% GSA and SiC in varied weight ratios were resistant to corrosion in 3.5% NaCl solution. The composites were however more susceptible to corrosion in 0.3M H2SO4 solution (in comparison with the 3.5% NaCl solution). It was noted that the Al-Mg-Si/6 wt% GSA-SiC hybrid composite grades containing GSA and SiC in weight ratio 1:3 and 3:1 respectively exhibited superior corrosion resistance in the 0.3M H2SO4 solution compared to other composites produced for this series. In the case of the Al-Mg-Si/10 wt% GSA-SiC hybrid composite grades, the corrosion resistance was relatively superior for the composites containing a greater weight ratio of GSA (75% and 100%) in 0.3M H2SO4 solution