Influence of native oxide film on corrosion behavior of additively manufactured stainless steel 316L

The influence of the native oxide film on passive film properties and localized corrosion of additively manufactured SS 316L was studied in 1 wt% HCl by XPS characterization, electrochemical polarization curves, and post-test morphology analysis by SEM. Increased Cr oxidation kinetics was observed in the as-polished sample with the native oxide film resulting in formation of an overall more protective and compact film compared to the cathodically-activated sample. Electrochemical analysis showed that corrosive attack varied between dislocation cell boundaries to cell interiors depending on the initial surface state and polarization conditions. A corrosion mechanism is proposed to explain this variation. The datasets generated during and /or analyzed during the current study cannot be shared at this time as the data also forms part of an ongoing study, but are available from the corresponding author on reasonable request. •Native oxide film influence on passive film and corrosion properties of additively manufactured SS 316L has been studied.•A more protective and compact film is formed on the surface when the native oxide film is left intact.•Variation in corrosion attack was sobered depending on the state of the oxide film and polarization conditions.•A corrosion mechanism has been proposed to describe the variation in corrosion attack between the 2 samples studied.