Densification, microstructure, tribological and electrochemical properties of pure Zn fabricated by laser powder bed fusion

Abstract

The fabrication of Zn-based materials by laser powder bed fusion (LPBF) has been proved to be feasible. In this work, high relative density (98.10 %) of LPBF pure Zn samples were successfully obtained by optimizing the process parameters at low power (30–60 W). The microstructural formation mechanism and evolution of LPBF pure Zn under different power were investigated. With the increase of power, the recrystallization during the printing process became more completely, resulting in the increase of equiaxed grains integral number of the sample. The microhardness of the samples increases with the increase of the power, but the tribological properties change unobvious and the coefficient of friction of LPBF pure Zn in SBF solution is about 0.56–0.57. The electrochemical test manifests that, with the increase of power, the electrochemical corrosion rate of LPBF pure Zn increased, and the corresponding corrosion resistance decreased.