The effect of Magnesium addition on the performance of Aluminium-Zinc–Copper alloy as a sacrificial anode in seawater
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Date
2026-05-31
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Abstract
This paper presents an experimental investigation on effectiveness of the addition of magnesium (Mg) on the performance of aluminium-zinc-copper (Al-Zn-Cu) alloy as a sacrificial anode to protect low carbon steel in seawater. The chemical compositions of mild steel sample, Aluminium alloyed and that of the medium (seawater) were determined using optical emission spectroscopy. Samples of Al-Zn-Cu alloy alloyed with 0.5%, 1.0% and 1.5% by weight of magnesium were prepared and produced by casting technique to produce the sacrificial anodes. Subsequently, the anodes were mechanically joined with the mild steel by force-fitting them together to produce specimens for corrosion test. The effectiveness of the sacrificial anodes for the protection of mild steel in seawater was examined using the gravimetric technique (for a period of 168 – 2016 hours) and potentiodynamic analysis. The results showed that the Al-Zn-Cu-1.0% Mg gave the maximum protection efficiency of 99.85% (for 2016 hours) and 99.98% through gravimetric and potentiodynamic analysis respectively, better than the efficiency of 99.26% (for 168 hours) and 99.53% (for 336 hours) attained by adding Zinc and Tin respectively to the aluminium alloy in previous studies. Thus, the addition of Mg to Al-Zn-Cu alloy was effective and suitable as a sacrificial anode in seawater
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Keywords
Aluminium alloy, Magnesium, Potentiodynamic analysis, Sacrificial anode, Seawater.
Citation
Shuaib-Babata Y.L, Omokheni E.I, Ambali I.O, Busari Y.O, Abdulqadir L,B, Ejiko S.O, Ibrahim H.K & Muraina S. K