Electropolishing of Laser Powder Bed-Fused IN625 Components in an Ionic Electrolyte

This work presents the first practical application of ionic electrolytes for electropolishing of nickel-based superalloys. It contains the results of an experiment-driven optimization of the applied potential and electrolyte temperature during electropolishing of laser powder bed-fused IN625 components containing surfaces oriented to the building platform under angles varying from 0 to 135°. For comparative purposes, the roughness profilometry and confocal microscopy techniques were used to characterize the surface finish topographies and the material removal rates of IN625 components subjected to electropolishing in ionic and acidic (reference) electrolytes. After 4 h of electropolishing in both electrolytes, a roughness of Ra ≤ 6.3 µm (ISO N9 grade number of roughness) was obtained for all the build orientations. To elaborate, both electrolytes manifested identical roughness evolutions with time on the 45°(75% Ra reduction) and 90°-oriented (65% Ra reduction) surfaces. Although the roughness reduction on the 135°-oriented surface in the ionic electrolyte was 17% less than in the acidic electrolyte, the former provided a more uniform roughness profile on the 0°-oriented surface (30% Ra reduction) and 44% higher current efficiency than the acidic electrolyte. This work proves that ionic electrolytes constitute a greener alternative to industrial acidic mixtures for electropolishing of three-dimensional (3D)-printed parts from nickel-based superalloys.