Influence of heat treatment on the corrosion and tribo-corrosion resistance of LPBF additively manufactured Cu-15Ni-8Sn alloy

• Published in: Corrosion science Vol. 250; p. 112894
• Main Authors: Zuo, Pengcheng, Ju, Hongbo, Liu, Zhuangzhuang, Zhang, Bowei, Zhang, Zequn, Liu, Mingze, He, Shujie, Luo, Xinjie, Li, Ying, Peng, Bo, Wu, Junsheng, Li, Xiaogang
• Format: Journal Article
• Language: English
• Published: Elsevier Ltd 01.07.2025
• Subjects: Corrosion; Cu-15Ni-8Sn alloy; Heat treatment; Laser powder bed fusion (LPBF); Tribo-corrosion; Heat treatment; Corrosion; Laser powder bed fusion (LPBF); Cu-15Ni-8Sn alloy; Tribo-corrosion
• ISSN: 0010-938X
• DOI: 10.1016/j.corsci.2025.112894

Effect of heat-treatment processes on the microstructure, corrosion and tribo-corrosion behavior of laser powder bed fusion (LPBF) Cu-15Ni-8Sn alloy were systematically investigated. The results demonstrate that the typical molten pool structures were destroyed after solid solution treatment. In contrast, aging process could facilitate the formation of spinodal decomposition structure, which significantly improves the hardness and tribo-corrosion resistance of the LPBF alloy. Nevertheless, a prolonged aging could inversely aggravate the segregation and precipitation of Sn-rich phase along the cellular and grain boundaries, thus driving a severer micro galvanic effect to deteriorate its corrosion resistance. What’s more, the prosperity of soft precipitates would further weaken the tribo-corrosion performance. ●Aging treatment can promote the Sn segregation and precipitation of LPBF Cu-15Ni-8Sn alloy at the cellular boundaries.●Direct aging for 0.5 h can enable LPBF Cu-15Ni-8Sn alloy to form a more protective oxide layer in a 3.5 %wt NaCl solution.●Excessive aging times (e.g., 3 h) can have a detrimental effect on the corrosion resistance of LPBF Cu-15Ni-8Sn alloy.●LPBF Cu-15Ni-8Sn alloy aged 0.5 h shows best tribo-corrosion resistance from spinodal structure and proper precipitates.●Excessive aging reduces tribo-corrosion resistance via precipitate over-accumulation in LPBF Cu-15Ni-8Sn alloy.