On the unusual intergranular corrosion resistance of 316L stainless steel additively manufactured by selective laser melting

• Published in: Corrosion science Vol. 161; p. 108189
• Main Authors: Laleh, Majid, Hughes, Anthony E., Xu, Wei, Haghdadi, Nima, Wang, Ke, Cizek, Pavel, Gibson, Ian, Tan, Mike Yongjun
• Format: Journal Article
• Language: English
• Published: Amsterdam Elsevier Ltd 01-12-2019; Elsevier BV
• Subjects: 316L stainless steel; Activation; Additive manufacturing; Austenitic stainless steels; Corrosion resistance; Corrosion resistant steels; Depletion; Grain boundaries; Grain boundary; Heat treatment; Intergranular corrosion; Laser beam melting; Precipitates; Precipitation; Rapid prototyping; Stainless steel; Twin boundaries; Precipitation; 316L stainless steel; Additive manufacturing; Intergranular corrosion; Grain boundary
• ISSN: 0010-938X; 1879-0496
• DOI: 10.1016/j.corsci.2019.108189

•SLM-produced 316L SS has shown markedly high intergranular corrosion (IGC) resistance.•This unusual IGC behaviour was explained by the avoidance of localised Cr depletion.•The IGC was affected by grain boundary character of the SLM-produced 316L SS.
The intergranular corrosion (IGC) resistance of 316L stainless steel (316L SS) produced by selective laser melting (SLM) was investigated using microscopy analysis and electrochemical measurements. The IGC resistance of SLM-produced 316L SS, determined using a double-loop electrochemical potentiokinetic reactivation test, was found to be substantially higher than that of conventional 316L SS. This unusual behaviour was explained by the fact that no Cr-rich precipitates were detected for SLM-produced specimens after long-term sensitisation heat-treatment and those SLM-produced specimens exhibited a high frequency of twin boundaries and low-angle grain boundaries along with fine grains, leading to the avoidance of localised Cr depletion.