Abstract
The resistance to corrosion of additive manufactured (3D printing) Ti-6Al-4V alloys was investigated using micro-electrochemical tests. In terms of corrosion resistance, the acicular martensitic ${\alpha}^{\prime}$ phase in such additive manufactured Ti-6Al-4V was the focus of attention, and its behavior was distinct from that of conventional subtractive manufactured Ti-6Al-4V. To order to identify ${\alpha}^{\prime}$ phase, XRD tests were performed and micro Vickers hardness was measured for different grains (bright and dark grains) in the additive manufactured Ti-6Al-4V alloy. Micro-electrochemical tests were performed to measure corrosion resistance of bright and dark grains in the additive manufactured Ti-6Al-4V alloy with specially designed electrochemical micro-droplet cell. Critical pitting temperature (CPT) measurement was performed to evaluate the resistance to pitting corrosion of additive manufactured Ti-6Al-4V alloys with different volumes of ${\alpha}^{\prime}$ phase and subtractive manufactured Ti-6Al-4V alloy. The dark grains of the laminated Ti-6Al-4V alloy distributed broader than the bright grains measured with low microhardness. The dark grains of the Ti-6Al-4V alloy, which was rich in martensite ${\alpha}^{\prime}$, had lower general corrosion and pitting resistance than bright grains. As the fraction of martensite ${\alpha}^{\prime}$ phase increased, the resistance to the pitting corrosion decreased.
