Microstructure and corrosion properties of PBF-LB produced carbide nanoparticles additivated AlSi10Mg parts

Due to its good corrosion resistance, demand for PBF-LB-produced Al alloys increases rapidly in industrial applications. However, recent studies showed that corrosion resistance critically depends on the microstructure of as-built Al parts. This study showed that nano-additivation with carbides (SiC and TiC) could gradually tune the microstructure of as-built AlSi10Mg parts, which directly affects their corrosion resistance. In this study, the microstructure of the as-built and heat-treated parts are examined by SEM-EBSD, and corrosion properties are measured with a potentiodynamic polarization test. Furthermore, we found that both SiC and TiC nanoparticles acted as a grain refiner, reduced columnar grain formations in the AlSi10Mg matrix, and improved corrosion properties after stress-relief heat treatment of as-built parts with TiC outperforming SiC.