- #1
SkepticJ
- 244
- 1
I've seen various documentaries where WWII-era aircraft wreckage has been sitting out in the jungles on Pacific islands for over sixty years and everything that is aluminum is in really good shape. Little bit of scrubbing the algae, mildew, and moss off of it, and it would look like new.
I know the surface oxidizes to form aluminum oxide, one of the hardest materials known, and the oxide isn't larger than the crystal structure of bulk aluminum, so it doesn't flake off like rust does. The patina protects the underlying metal.
What's the limit on this; how long, if ever, will it be before those aluminum wings, fuselages and floats corrode away into alumina dust?
I know the surface oxidizes to form aluminum oxide, one of the hardest materials known, and the oxide isn't larger than the crystal structure of bulk aluminum, so it doesn't flake off like rust does. The patina protects the underlying metal.
What's the limit on this; how long, if ever, will it be before those aluminum wings, fuselages and floats corrode away into alumina dust?