Improved corrosion resistance of nickel-aluminum bronze by electron beam powder bed fusion

• Published in: Materials chemistry and physics 2023-02, Vol.296, p.127225, Article 127225
• Main Authors: Zhai, Wenzheng, Li, Junjie, Zhou, Runhua, Sun, Aidong, Yan, Shuoqing, Wang, Guilan, Zhang, Haiou
• Format: Article
• Language: English
• Subjects: Additive manufacturing; Corrosion resistance; Electrochemistry; Nickel-aluminum bronze
• ISSN: 0254-0584; 1879-3312
• DOI: 10.1016/j.matchemphys.2022.127225

The corrosion resistance of nickel-aluminum bronze (NAB) by electron beam powder bed fusion (EB-PBF) from different-size feeding particles is investigated in neutral 3.5 wt% NaCl solutions. Uniformly-distributed precipitates are observed in the samples at the microscale. The βˊ phase that suffered from corrosion preferentially in conventional as-casting NAB is not observed in the EB-PBF NAB. Typically, the corrosion resistance of EB-PBF NAB built from middle-size particles is improved by 1.35 times that of as-casting NAB. This results from a collective effect of high relative density and uniformly-distributed precipitates, which mitigates selective phase corrosion and promotes the formation of corrosion products with uniform thickness. •Nickel-aluminum bronze is prepared by electron beam powder bed fusion (EB-PBF).•It shows higher corrosion resistance than as-casting counterparts.•A uniform distribution of precipitates in EB-PBF samples mitigates selective phase corrosion.•Good corrosion resistance is also attributed to corrosion products with uniform thickness.