TITLE:
Anodic Coating Characteristics of Different Aluminum Alloys for Spacecraft Materials Applications
AUTHORS:
Afaf M. Abd El-Hameed, Yehia A. Abdel-Aziz, Fatma S. El-Tokhy
KEYWORDS:
Anodic Oxide Coatings, Aluminum Alloy Samples, Sulfuric Acid, Optical Properties, Morphology, Analysis
JOURNAL NAME:
Materials Sciences and Applications,
Vol.8 No.2,
February
8,
2017
ABSTRACT: Anodic oxide coatings on aluminum alloys are used for space environment applications. These provide specific thermo-optical properties to spacecraft surface. Fragments of these coatings lead to generate the contamination in satellites and affect the mission lifetime. The current work concerns studying of the anodic processes applied on aluminum and different groups of aluminum alloys as Al7075, Al2024 and Al6061. Experimental procedures are performed using sulfuric acid at different values of current density (1 - 2 A/dm2). The influence of the parameters of anodic film formation on the coating characteristics and layer thickness of aluminum alloys has been investigated. Reflectance and optical properties of the anodized aluminum alloy coatings are determined and found to be dependent on the alloying elements. Changes in anodic coating weight and film thickness of aluminium alloys with the process parameters as current density, temperature, time duration, acid concentration, and sealing system have been studied. Moreover, morphology and surface structure of the considered samples are carried out in attempt to understand the physical characteristics. The obtained results are compared and briefly outlined.