Influence of Surface Finishing on Corrosion Behaviour of 3D Printed TiAlV Alloy

Additive manufacturing is currently one of the promising methods for the fabrication of products of complex shapes. It is also used in medical applications, thanks to technological progress, which also enables the printing of metallic materials. However, the final products often have to undergo a final surface treatment. In this work, the influence of surface finishing on the corrosion behavior of the medical alloy Ti-6Al-4V prepared by the selective laser melting technique is studied. The samples were subjected to mechanical, chemical and electrochemical treatments. Corrosion behavior was investigated using DC and AC electrochemical techniques such as potentiodynamic and potentiostatic curves and electrochemical impedance spectroscopy. Furthermore, the influence of surface treatments on the possibility of localized corrosion attack was evaluated. The results showed that the surface treatments have a positive effect on the corrosion resistance and reduce the risk of crevice corrosion.