Comparative analysis of microstructure, mechanical, and corrosion properties of biodegradable Mg-3Y alloy prepared by selective laser melting and spark plasma sintering

•W3 alloy was successfully consolidated by SLM and SPS almost without porosity.•Microstructure is significantly affected by the processing method.•Mechanical strength is comparable to the extruded material.•Deformability is primarily affected by porosity, grain structure and residual strain.•SPS material showed convenient combination of mechanical and degradation properties. This work explored possibilities of biodegradable magnesium alloy Mg-3Y preparation by two modern powder metallurgy techniques – spark plasma sintering (SPS) and selective laser melting (SLM). The powder material was consolidated by both methods utilising optimised parameters, which led to very low porosity (∼0.3%) in the SLM material and unmeasurably low porosity in the SPS material. The main aim of the study was the thorough microstructure characterisation and interrelation between the microstructure and the functional properties, such as mechanical strength, deformability, and corrosion resistance. Both materials showed comparable strength of ∼110 MPa in tension and compression and relatively good deformability of ∼9% and ∼21% for the SLM and SPS materials, respectively. The corrosion resistance of the SPS material in 0.1 M NaCl solution was superior to the SLM one and comparable to the conventional extruded material. The digital image correlation during loading and the cross-section analysis of the corrosion layers revealed that the residual porosity and large strained grains have the dominant negative effect on the functional properties of the SLM material. On the other hand, one of the primary outcomes of this study is that the SPS consolidation method is very effective in the preparation of the W3 biodegradable alloy, resulting in material with convenient mechanical and degradation properties that might find practical applications.