PEO Film Formation Behavior of Al1050 Alloy Under Direct Current in an Alkaline Electrolyte

This work demonstrates arc generation and anodic film formation behaviors on Al1050 alloy during PEO (plasma electrolytic oxidation) treatment under a constant direct current in an alkaline electrolyte containing silicate, carbonate and borate ions. Only one big arc more than 2 mm diameter was generated first at the edges and it was moving on the fresh surface or staying occasionally at the edges, resulting in the local burning due to generation of an extremely big orange colored arc at the edges. Central region of the flat surface was not fully covered with PEO films even after sufficiently long treatment time because of the local burning problem. The anodic oxides formed on the flat surface by arcing once were found to consist of a number of small oxide nodules with spherical shape of $3{\sim}6{\mu}m$ size and irregular shapes of about $5{\sim}10{\mu}m$ width and $10{\sim}20{\mu}m$ length. The anodic oxide nodules showed uniform thickness of about $3{\mu}m$ and rounded edges. These experimental results suggest that one big arc observed on the specimen surface under the application of a constant direct current is composed of a number of small micro-arcs less than $20{\mu}m$ size.