Influence of Minor Additions of La, Ce, and Nd on the Mechanical and Corrosion Behavior of Aluminum Bronze in HNO₃ Solution

The influence of minor additions of La, Ce, and Nd on the corrosion behavior of aluminum bronze (91% Сu + 9% Al) in 1% HNO₃ has been investigated at 30 C using weight loss and potentiostatic/dynamic polarization techniques. It has been observed that the addition of small amounts of La, Ce, and Nd improves the corrosion resistance of aluminum bronze; the beneficial effect, however, is more with the lower content of alloying elements. The effect that adding these elements has on mechanical properties such as hardness, tensile strength, percentage elongation, and forgeability has also been observed. The percentage elongation and the forgeability have been found to improve considerably.