A Comparative Study of Protective Film Formation of Additively Manufactured 316L SS and Conventional Wrought 316L SS in Aqueous, Gaseous and Steam Environments

Abstract

Additively prepared 316L SS using selective laser melting technique has been found to possess better passivation behavior in relation to its wrought counterpart in aqueous media such as chloride solutions, despite having cast structure. This has been attributed to the absence of manganese sulfide inclusions and higher chromium content of the passive film formed on the former. Not much work has been published on the behavior of this alloy in high temperature gaseous and steam environments though it is expected to be employed in such environments. Our studies show that the nature of the oxides formed on oxidation on the additively formed alloy has been found to be notably different from that formed on its wrought alloy counterpart. A talk will bring out the salient differences shown by these two types of alloys and their implication on the protection behavior.