Pitting corrosion behaviour of AZ31 magnesium in tropical marine atmosphere

Corrosion behaviour of AZ31 magnesium during the initial six exposure periods in a tropical marine atmosphere is investigated. The results reveal that corrosion process of magnesium is dominated by pitting corrosion which consists of initiation of new pits, propagation of small scale pits and coalescence of neighbouring pits. There exists a critical depth above which the pits cease to grow down, resulting in the fluctuation of the mean pit depth. Different exposure conditions are found to be crucial for the different pit characters. Pits on the skyward surface are in deep-hole shape, while the groundward surface is covered with shallow dish pits.