Two basic reactions occur during the anodizing of aluminum: 1) the aluminum is consumed and 2) an oxide grows. By accepting this statement as true, the anodizing process can be viewed as a corrosion process, and anodizing can be modeled using the Tafel Equation. Anodizing process parameters of electrolyte chemistry and concentration, temperature, aluminum substrate resistance and current density are presented as they relate to the Tafel Equation and how they impact the anodic aluminum oxide structure and properties. Understanding this relationship is consequent in making anodizing an engineering process, one that enables tuning the structure such that it yields distinct characteristics to fulfill design and application requirements.
Anodizing is a complex multidisciplinary process, encompassing chemical and electrochemical effects with physical metallurgy and engineering issues/procedures. The physical metallurgy effects, in particular, are not only electrochemical in nature but involve thermodynamics, which vary with alloy chemistry and the manufacturing process of the substrate. As by its very nature, anodizing involves metallic dissolution to produce an oxide, the various effects can be brought together within the realm of corrosion science.
Anodizing is a complex multidisciplinary process, encompassing chemical and electrochemical effects with physical metallurgy and engineering issues/procedures. The physical metallurgy effects, in particular, are not only electrochemical in nature but involve thermodynamics, which vary with alloy chemistry and the manufacturing process of the substrate. As by its very nature, anodizing involves metallic dissolution to produce an oxide, the various effects can be brought together within the realm of corrosion science.
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