Abstract

An extension of a brick wall model was used to describe corrosion of aluminum alloys. The extended model simulates the behavior of corrosion paths at intersections of grain boundaries within the metal sample. Situations considered include the cases where a corrosion path might assume an upward turn, skip an intersection (not turn) or split into branches. The splitting of a corrosion path results in a smaller median of the minimum order statistic while the other factors increase the median of the minimum order statistic. Moreover, a larger number of grain layers increases the minimum path length for a sample with given thickness. With a proper combination of these factors, the extended model is able to provide a good fit to the experimental data developed by the foil penetration technique.

Key words: Intergranular corrosion (IGC), extended brick wall model, corrosion, computer simulation algorithm, intersection