Effect of Ni and Nb Elements on Corrosion Resistance and Behavior of TC4 Alloy in Hydrochloric Acid.

Due to the development of the petroleum industry, more severe mining conditions put forward higher corrosion resistance requirements for materials. In this paper, the corrosion resistance and corrosion behavior of four TC4-xNi-yNb (x, y = 0, 0.5) alloys were investigated in a 1 mol/L HCl solution through microscopic characterization, electrochemical tests and corrosion weight loss testing. The results demonstrated that the addition of Ni and Nb elements could improve the corrosion resistance of TC4 alloy to varying degrees. The addition of niobium formed niobium oxide in the passive film, while the addition of nickel thickened the passive film without formation of nickel oxides. The improvement of corrosion resistance of TC4 by nickel is more significant. Finally, a new highly corrosion resistant alloy TC4-0.5Ni-0.5Nb is preferred.