Corrosion of type 6061-T6 aluminum in mercury and mercury vapor

Abstract To examine potential corrosion of aluminum maintenance equipment in environments periodically containing mercury vapor and droplets of liquid mercury, c-rings of 6061-T6 aluminum have been exposed to a series of screening tests. The tests included vapor phase exposures as well as immersion of stressed and unstressed c-rings in the as-received condition and with chemical treatments to modify the passive film. Test conditions included the temperature range 0–160 °C, times of 3–30 days and, in addition to liquid Hg, various Hg vapor environments including residual air, residual helium and condensing conditions. The results indicate 6061-T6 is quite susceptible to pitting and cracking when immersed in Hg for even a brief time, but at least one chemical treatment was shown to improve corrosion resistance under immersion conditions. Type 6061-T6 was found to be essentially immune to vapor phase corrosion for the conditions examined, with only very minor development of pits or pit precursors.