Anisotropic corrosion behavior of Sc and Zr modified Al-Mg alloy produced by selective laser melting

Abstract Electrochemical measurements and microstructural analyses were conducted to investigate the corrosion behaviors on different planes of Sc and Zr modified Al-Mg alloy produced by selective laser melting (SLM). Results indicated that the XY-plane exhibited a superior corrosion resistance with a lower current density (icorr =57.1 μA cm-2) compared to the XZ-plane in 3.5 wt.% NaCl solution at room temperature. The microstructural analyses suggested that the anisotropic corrosion resistances of the SLM produced Al-Mg-Sc-Zr alloy related to the quite different microstructures on different planes, which included the molten pool boundary density, Al3(Sc,Zr) precipitation distribution, grain size distribution, and crystallographic orientation.