The effect of an increase in hydrostatic pressure (from 1 to 300 atm) on the composition of the corrosion layer formed on 6061 T6 aluminium alloy in sea water was studied using electrochemical (polarisation potentiodynamic curves and impedance measurements) and surface analysis (X-ray photoelectron spectroscopy and Fourier transform infrared spectroscopy) techniques. Increasing the hydrostatic pressure caused an increase in the Mg/Al ratio and in the ratio of non-hydrated to hydrated aluminium oxides, so that a more compact film with lower selfrepairing power was formed. Thus, the corrosion current density decreased while the pit nucleation probability increased.
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