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Improvement of corrosion resistance of additive manufactured AISI 316L stainless steel in a physiological environment by TiN surface coating

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Abstract

In this work, we investigate the effect of additive manufacturing parameters on the corrosion resistance of AISI 316L stainless steel used to fabricate orthopedic implants. Samples were produced by selective laser melting, where the volumetric energy density, controlled by process parameters, was varied from 19 J/mm3 to 167 J/mm3. A scanning electron microscope reveals that the increase of the volumetric energy density improves the material continuities by reducing the fraction of porosities from 54 to 0.3% and changing their morphologies from large pores with an irregular elongated shape to small size spherical shape. This beneficial effect is related to a reduction of parts roughness which varies from 5 to 12 µm. A Physical Vapor Deposited (PVD) TiN coating was applied to the manufactured parts to reduce surface roughness and to close porosities. Corrosion tests were carried out in Ringer’s solution at 37 °C, corresponding to normal human biological temperature. It has been proved that increasing the volume energy density enhances corrosion resistance considerably and the pitting of additive manufactured parts. The application of PVD TiN coating provides additional protection against physiologic corrosion. The protective layer has successfully increased the corrosion potential Ecorr, reduced pitting corrosion, and improved the corrosion rate significantly. These results allow prosthesis manufacturers to extend the service life of prostheses obtained by additive manufacturing and subjected to physiological corrosion.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Mechanical, Material and Processes Laboratory (LR99ES05), University of Tunis, ENSIT, 5, Avenue Taha Hussein, 1008, Tunis, Tunisia

    Houda Yahyaoui, Naoufel Ben Moussa, Farhat Ghanem & Nizar Ben Salah

  2. Preparatory Institute for Engineering Studies of Bizerte, University of Carthage, IPEIB, 7021, Zarzouna, Tunisia

    Houda Yahyaoui & Naoufel Ben Moussa

  3. Department of Mechanical Engineering, University of Québec Trois-Rivières, Trois-Rivières, QC, Canada

    Mohamed Habibi

Authors
  1. Houda Yahyaoui
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  2. Naoufel Ben Moussa
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  3. Mohamed Habibi
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  4. Farhat Ghanem
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  5. Nizar Ben Salah
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Contributions

All authors contributed to the study conception and design. Material preparation, data collection and analysis were performed by Houda Yahyaoui, Naoufel Ben Moussa, Mohamed Habibi, Farhat Ghanem, and Nizar Ben Salah. The first draft of the manuscript was written by Houda Yahyaoui, and all authors commented on previous versions of the manuscript. All authors read and approved the final manuscript.

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Correspondence to Houda Yahyaoui.

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Yahyaoui, H., Ben Moussa, N., Habibi, M. et al. Improvement of corrosion resistance of additive manufactured AISI 316L stainless steel in a physiological environment by TiN surface coating. Int J Adv Manuf Technol 125, 2379–2391 (2023). https://doi.org/10.1007/s00170-023-10879-3

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