Abstract:
To reveal the feasibility of applying selective laser melting (SLM) to titanium alloy-made underwater equipment components, the corrosion resistance of SLM-prepared Ti64 alloy in a simulated seawater environment was explored. The research finds that the SLM-prepared Ti64 alloy primarily consists of needle-like α' martensite, with a β-phase content of approximately 0.3%. Comparison through electrochemical tests reveals that in a NaCl solution with a mass fraction of 3.5%, the open-circuit potential of SLM-prepared Ti64 is −119.3 mV, significantly lower than that of wrought Ti64 (234.12 mV). The analysis of the potentiodynamic polarization curves using the extrapolation method shows that the corrosion potential (
Ecorr) of the SLM-prepared Ti64 is −237.3 mV, also lower than that of wrought Ti64 (118.4 mV). By fitting the impedance spectra with an equivalent circuit model, the passive film resistance (
Rf) and charge transfer resistance (
Rct) of the SLM-prepared Ti64 alloy are 192.4 kΩ·cm
2 and 2.69 MΩ·cm
2, respectively, both lower than those of wrought Ti64 (235 kΩ·cm
2 and 4.34 MΩ·cm
2). The slow stress and strain corrosion results at different strain rates are analyzed. At strain rates of 10
−5 s
−1, 5 × 10
–6 s
−1, and 10
–6 s
−1, the stress corrosion susceptibility of the SLM-prepared Ti64 alloy is 20.2%, 17.2%, and 14.4%, respectively, all higher than that of wrought Ti64 under the same conditions (−1.4%, 12.9%, and 10.8%).