The influence of heat treatment on the microstructure and corrosion behavior of selective laser melted 316L stainless steel in Ringer’s solution

Abstract

Abstract The aim of this study is to investigate the effect of heat treatment on the microstructure and corrosion behavior of 316L stainless steel (SS) in Ringer’s solution. The corrosion performance of the as-received, heat-treated at 450 °C (HT1), and 1050 °C (HT2) SS alloys manufactured by selective laser melting was evaluated. The heat treatment at 450 °C and 1050 °C relieved about 38% and 62% of the compressive residual stress derived from the selective laser melting (SLM) process, respectively. The charge transfer resistance of the as-received, HT1, and HT2 was 102, 140, and 12 kΩ cm2 in the Ringer’s solution, respectively. This severe reduction in corrosion resistance for the HT2 sample can be attributed to the high possibility of harmful phases such as MnS forming during heat treatment and possibly depletion of chromium content in the inclusions compared to the alloy matrix.