Effect of Nb addition on microstructure and corrosion resistance of novel stainless steels fabricated by direct laser metal deposition

The study demonstrated the successful fabrication of novel stainless steels by direct laser metal deposition with the aim of investigating the impact of niobium content (Nb = 0, 0.25, 0.75, 1.25 wt%) on their microstructure and electrochemical properties. The microstructure and phase evolution of the as-built stainless steels were studied using scanning electron microscope (SEM) and electron back-scatter diffraction (EBSD). Corrosion behavior of the samples was evaluated using electrochemical workstation in 3.5 wt% NaCl. Experimental results have shown that the crystal structure of as-built stainless steels was BCC with a small trace of dispersive carbides and FCC phase. Grain refinement was observed with increasing niobium content. Large-angle boundaries were obtained in different Nb-containing samples with distribution from 50 degrees to 60 degrees. An increase in niobium content extremely improved the corrosion resistance of as-built stainless steels and the as-built samples with 1.25 wt% exhibited the best corrosion resistance among the tested samples as indicated by its lowest corrosion rate, which was an order of magnitude lower than that of Nb-free samples.