On microstructure and corrosion behaviour of AlSi10Mg alloy fabricated by direct metal laser sintering

Direct metal laser sintering (DMLS) is an additive manufacturing technique that creates near-net-shape functional components by selectively melting metal powders in two dimensions layer by layer using a high power laser as a heat source. The current thesis details (i) the corrosion behavior and microstructure of DMLS-AlSi10Mg_200C versus die cast A360.1 aluminum, confirming that the corrosion resistance of the alloy processed through DMLS was significantly better than the cast counterpart, (ii) effects of surface finishing procedure, i.e. grinding, polishing, and sandblasting, on corrosion behavior of DMLS-AlSi10Mg_200C Alloy vs die-cast A360.1 aluminum, highlighting a better corrosion resistance of DMLS-AlSi10Mg_200C than its cast counterpart with similar surface finish, and (iii) the microstructure and corrosion behaviour of AlSi10Mg alloy with low surface roughness fabricated by direct metal laser sintering, elucidating the dominant impact of the alloy’s microstructure on controlling the electrochemical performance of the as-printed samples than their surface roughness