Additive manufacturing processes in selected corrosion resistant materials: a state of knowledge review

Abstract

Additive manufacturing is an important and promising process of manufacturing due to its increasing demand in all industrial sectors, with special relevance in those related to metallic components since it permits the lightening of structures, producing complex geometries with a minimum waste of material. There are different techniques involved in additive manufacturing that must be carefully selected according to the chemical composition of the material and the final requirements. There is a large amount of research devoted to the technical development and the mechanical properties of the final components; however, not much attention has been paid yet to the corrosion behaviour in different service conditions. The aim of this paper is to deeply analyze the interaction between the chemical composition of different metallic alloys, the additive manufacturing processing, and their corrosion behaviour, determining the effects of the main microstructural features and defects associated with these specific processes, such as grain size, segregation, and porosity, among others. The corrosion resistance of the most-used systems obtained by additive manufacturing (AM) such as aluminum alloys, titanium alloys, and duplex stainless steels is analyzed to provide knowledge that can be a platform to create new ideas for materials manufacturing. Some conclusions and future guidelines for establishing good practices related to corrosion tests are proposed.