Corrosion resistance of AISI316L stainless steel components obtained by SLM technology

In this work different AISI 316L samples realized through selective laser melting (SLM) were characterized in as built condition (without polishing) and after polishing to a controlled surface roughness, in order to assess: i) the influence that surface polishing has on corrosion resistance of AISI 316L SLM components and ii) the influence that the building position (i.e. the position of the sample inside the SLM building chamber) has on microstructure, porosity and corrosion resistance. The results obtained show that the surface polishing is mandatory to obtain interesting corrosion resistance (i.e. to obtain a correct passivation of the surface) and that in polished condition the samples obtained via SLM have higher pitting resistance than those obtained by cold rolling; furthermore, the pitting potential of the SLM samples is strongly affected by the building position inside the SLM chamber.