Effect of Build Bed Location on Density and Corrosion Properties of Additively Manufactured 17-4PH Stainless Steel

Additive manufacture (AM) has revolutionized the manufacturing industry by developing a method of manufacture that allows for rapid prototyping, increased design freedom, and flexible production. Despite this, additively manufactured components exhibit a greater susceptibility to corrode. The corrosion properties of additively manufactured 17-4PH stainless steel (SS) are explored in this paper as a function of build bed location. A combination of advanced electrochemical techniques and density measurements has been used to determine this effect. All additively manufactured parts tested in this paper underwent corrosion via a localized pitting mechanism, and the degree of corrosion appears to be independent of build bed position. A key finding from this paper pertains to the variation in component density with build bed position, which is proposed to be related to the distance from powder distribution.