Corrosion resistance tailoring of a paramagnetic Ti–6Al–4V through a static magnetic field exposure in solid state

The regained interest in using the externally applied magnetic field (MF) to engineer properties in the solid state has opened a new lane and expanded the existing paradigm to control the microstructure and improve the performance of materials. One area to explore is the enhancement in corrosion resistance of an intricately shaped component for structural applications. This work evaluated the corrosion resistance of paramagnetic Ti alloy, Ti–6Al–4V, treated in a static MF of 2 T. To investigate the magnetically induced microstructural evolution in terms of α-phase fraction and dislocation density and its effect on corrosion behavior, the material was studied in three conditions: as-received (hot rolled) plate, 5% cold-rolled, and 5% cold-rolled + annealed. Experiments involved performing corrosion tests and evaluating phases and dislocation density via X-ray diffraction and electron microscopy. A decrease in dislocation density was observed for magnetic exposure of 2 T for all conditions, with a drastic decrease of ~ 38.5% for the cold-rolled sample. An evident improvement in corrosion resistance of magnetically treated paramagnetic alloy as a result of the negative magneto-plasticity effect paves new pathways for tailoring the properties.