Investigation of Surface Morphology, Wear Resistance, and Adhesiveness of AA6061-T6 Treated in a Hexafluorozirconic Acid-Based Solution

The surface morphology, wear resistance, and adhesiveness of aluminum alloy (AA)6061-T6 (UNS A96061) treated in a hexafluorozirconic acid-based solution were studied. The treated alloys had higher resistance to moisture-induced corrosion than the untreated alloys, which was indicated by the smaller increments in roughness of the treated alloys with prolonged exposure to 99.5% relative humidity. The treated alloys did not show a better scratch-induced wear resistance than the untreated alloys. However, the surface treatment resulted in a more difficult removal of a high molecular weight epoxy topcoat from the treated alloy surfaces during scratching in air and water with an atomic force microscopy (AFM) tip because of the enhanced adhesion strength of the topcoats.