Improved Corrosion Resistance Behaviour of AlSi10Mg Alloy due to Selective Laser Melting

Abstract

The corrosion behaviour of AlSi10Mg alloy produced by selective laser melting (SLM) under two different atmospheres, namely argon and nitrogen, was compared to that of AlSi10Mg alloy that had been cast. The present study demonstrates the systematic electrochemical behaviour of selective-laser-melted (SLMed) AlSi10Mg. Potentiodynamic polarisation and electrochemical impedance spectroscopy (EIS) were used to investigate the electrochemical behaviour, illustrating the degrading features of SLMed AlSi10Mg alloy in 0.1 M NaCl solution. The corrosion resistance of AlSi10Mg produced using selective laser melting was found to be 2–3 times greater than that of AlSi10Mg that had been cast. The degradation behaviour was also explained by SEM analysis of the corroded samples of SLMed AlSi10Mg and as-cast AlSi10Mg alloy. It may be deduced that the better corrosion resistance of AlSi10Mg produced through selective laser melting is due to the fast cooling rate associated with the solidification of AlSi10Mg alloy fabricated through selective laser melting, compared with the slow cooling rate associated with the solidification of AlSi10Mg produced by casting.