Corrosion behavior of selective laser melted Ti-6Al-4V alloy in NaCl solution

Electrochemical measurements were performed to investigate the corrosion behavior of Ti-6Al-4V alloy prepared by selective laser melting (SLM) and commercial Grade 5 sample for comparison. Electrochemical results showed that the SLM-produced sample possesses poorer corrosion resistance than the Grade 5 sample. Microstructure studies suggested that the SLM-produced sample is composed of dominant acicular alpha' martensite and some prior beta grains, unlike the typical alpha+beta microstructure in Grade 5 sample. The unfavorable corrosion resistance of the SLM-produced sample is related to the considerably large amount of acicular alpha' and less beta-Ti phase in the microstructure compared to the Grade 5 sample. (C) 2015 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.