Plasma anodisation as an environmental harmless method for the corrosion protection of magnesium alloys

Sufficient corrosion resistance of technical magnesium alloys is generally ensured by anodising the components in aqueous electrolytes. In the majority of cases, these processes bear environmental risks due to the highly toxically electrolytes and are subjected to substantial legal regulations. Considering these facts, the plasma anodisation seems to be a prospective method to obtain comparable corrosion resistance without using toxic substances. The main goal of the method of the plasma anodisation is the substitution of the aqueous electrolyte by an oxygen plasma. The plasma anodised surfaces were well characterized and the corrosion resistance was proved in the salt spray test according to DIN 50021 SS. For the tests the magnesium die cast alloy AZ91hp was used. The tests included plasma anodised, plasma anodised and PVD coated and only PVD coated specimens. (C) 2003 Elsevier Science B.V. All rights reserved.