Effects of Anodizing Conditions on Thermal Properties of Al 20XX Alloys for Aircraft

• Main Authors: Junghyun Park, Kyeongsik Son, Junghoon Lee, Donghyun Kim, Wonsub Chung
• Format: Article
• Language: English
• Published: MDPI AG 2021-03-01
• Series: Symmetry
• Subjects: anodizing; thermal diffusivity; heat dissipation; emissivity; aerospace applications
• Online Access: https://www.mdpi.com/2073-8994/13/3/433

Anodizing was applied to improve the heat dissipation performance of aluminum (Al) alloys, by forming an oxide layer, such that they could be employed in aerospace applications. The methods employed were hard sulfuric acid (high hardness), soft sulfuric acid (low hardness), boric-sulfuric mixed acid, tin-sulfuric mixed acid, and chromic acid solutions. Each process was completed under optimized conditions. The surface morphology was observed using field emission scanning electron microscopy (FE-SEM) and a digital camera. For the determination of thermal performance, Fourier transform infrared spectroscopy (FT-IR) was used to measure the emissivity at 50 °C, and laser flash analysis (LFA) was utilized to analyze the thermal diffusivity at room temperature to 300 °C. The radiative property of metals is often ignored because of their low emissivity, however, in this research, the emissivity of the metal oxides was found to be higher than that of bare metal series. This study improved the heat dissipation properties by oxidization of Al via the anodizing process.