Distinction in corrosion resistance of selective laser melted Ti-6Al-4V alloy on different planes

•Corrosion resistance of selective laser melted Ti-6Al-4V was investigated.•XY-plane of Selective laser melted alloy shows a better corrosion resistance.•More α’ and less β-Ti weaken the corrosion resistance of XZ-plane.

Electrochemical measurements and microstructural analysis were performed to study the corrosion resistance of different planes of Ti-6Al-4V alloy manufactured by selective laser melting (SLM). The electrochemical results suggest that its XY-plane possesses a better corrosion resistance compared to XZ-plane in 1 M HCl solution, in spite of slight difference in 3.5 wt.% NaCl solution, suggesting that the different planes exhibit more pronounced distinction in corrosion resistance in harsher solution system. The inferior corrosion resistance of XZ-plane is attributed to the presence of more α′ martensite and less β-Ti phase in microstructure for XZ-plane than for XY-plane of the SLM-produced Ti-6Al-4V alloy.

Graphical abstractThe SLM-produced Ti-6Al-4V alloy exhibits a higher corrosion rate in 1 M HCl solution than that in 3.5 wt.% NaCl solution and XZ-plane of the SLM-produced Ti-6Al-4V alloy gives rise to the inferior corrosion resistance compared with its XY-plane.Figure optionsDownload full-size imageDownload as PowerPoint slide