Acoustic monitoring of aluminum-alloy sensitization

Segregation of atomic species in metastable solid-solution alloys results in a gradual change of the alloy’s properties, sometimes rendering the materials ineffective for the particular task they were designed for. An example of such a case is the sensitization of strong and lightweight Mg-rich aluminum alloys used in marine applications. The ASTM standard is an acid-corrosion test (G67), a destructive and lengthy procedure that requires large...