There is an upsurge of research interest on Alloy 718 additively manufactured (AM) by electron beam powder bed fusion (EB-PBF) technique in aero and land-based gas turbine engines. However, the surface quality of the manufactured components has always been a major challenge. Several factors, including powder particle size, layer thickness, beam parameters, scanning strategies, and inclination angle of the build, govern the surface characteristics. Along with surface roughness resulted from partially melted powder particles, surface defects such as balls, satellites, microcracks as well as up-skin and down-skin surfaces can enhance the vulnerability of the manufactured parts to corrosion. When the surface is unable to withstand the exposed environment adequately, corrosion can be triggered. The surface-induced corrosion failures are increasingly becoming more challenging as the AM components often have complex geometries that render them even more difficult to finish. So, the relatively poor surface finish is the barrier to the full exploitation of the AM industry.

In the present study, to achieve the desired surface quality, hence an improved high temperature corrosion performance, shot peening was implemented on Alloy 718 parts manufactured by EB-PBF. The high temperature corrosion behavior of the parts was investigated in an ambient air environment at 650 and 800 °C for up to 336 h. The underlying physical and chemical factors at play of the parts exposed to the corrosive environment were investigated too. The effect of topographical features (e.g., surface roughness) and microstructural characteristics (e.g., grain structure, phases, and defects) on high temperature corrosion behavior were analyzed by 3D surface profilometry, hardness test, optical microscopy (OM), scanning electron microscopy (SEM) equipped with energy disperse spectroscopy (EDS), X-ray diffractometry (XRD) and electron backscatter diffraction (EBSD). The surface roughness and high temperature corrosion rate of the parts was significantly reduced after shot peening.