Chapter 21 - Superhydrophobic and corrosion resistance and related mechanisms of Ni-based nanocomposite components processed by laser powder bed fusion

Abstract

Surface characteristics such as wettability, morphology, defects, and roughness play an important role in corrosion resistance of metals. In this chapter, laser powder bed fusion (LPBF) was applied to fabricate superhydrophobic surface from TiC/Inconel 718 nanocomposites. The surface morphology, roughness, wettability, and corrosion resistance of LPBF-processed composites were studied with variation of laser processing parameters. The obtained multiscaled structures with micrometallic balls and uniform nanoparticles showed superhydrophobicity, having the contact angle of about 151.5 degrees under optimal processing parameters. Nickel-based superalloy nanocomposites with a strong (001) orientation exhibited anisotropic mechanical and anticorrosion properties. The electrochemical measurements on three planes (XY, XZ, YZ) of the composites were also performed to build connections between corrosion behaviors with surface, microstructure characteristics, and reinforcements.