Experimental investigation on wear resistance and corrosion behavior of nickel-aluminum bronze alloy fabricated by wire-arc additive manufacturing

This paper discusses the differences in the microstructure, mechanical properties, wear resistance, and corrosion behavior of nickel-aluminum bronze (NAB) alloys fabricated via wire arc additive manufacturing (WAAM) versus casting. The grain size of the WAAM-NAB alloy is smaller than that of the as-cast NAB alloys; furthermore, the precipitation of the large size κⅠ phase is completely suppressed while the remaining precipitated κ phases are limited and reduced in size. Compared with the cast alloy, the WAAM-NAB alloy indicates a higher bending and tensile strength by 46% and 18%, respectively. The coefficient of friction of WAAM-NAB alloy is 56% lower than cast alloys. Additionally, the WAAM-NAB alloy shows greater corrosion resistance against seawater, in that it only exhibited residual β phase corrosion, whereas the cast alloy sustained severe selective-phase corrosion.