Lasers in Eng., Vol. 0, pp. 1–7 Reprints available directly from the publisher Photocopying permitted by license only 1 ©2015 Old City Publishing, Inc. Published by license under the OCP Science imprint, a member of the Old City Publishing Group *Corresponding author: Tel: +91 (0)9544827944; Email: kurianantony@amaljyothi.ac.in Hot Corrosion Behaviour of Laser Melted GP1 Stainless Steel Powder in a Molten Chloride and Sulphide Environment A. KURIAN 1, *, M. SIVA PRASAD 2 , A. AJITH 1 , T.J. CIJESH 1 , M.G. DEEPU 1 , B. GEORGE 1 1 Department of Mechanical Engineering, Amal Jyothi College of Engineering, Kanjirappally-686518, Kerala, India 2 Department of Metallurgy, Amal Jyothi College of Engineering, Kanjirappally-686518, Kerala, India This paper focuses mainly on the hot corrosion behaviour of laser melted GP1 stainless steel powder using pulsed Nd:YAG laser. The objectives of this study were to analyse the morphology, phase composition and the oxidation kinetics of the laser melted GP1 stainless steel specimen exposed to molten salt environment at high temperature. The surface characteristics of hot corroded specimens were methodically analysed using tools like microscopic inspection and X-ray diffraction (XRD). Parabolic law based oxidation kinetics was revealed by this study and these results are helpful to understand the hot corrosion mechanism in additive manufacturing processes involving powder melting by laser beam. Keywords: Nd:YAG laser, GP1 stainless steel, powder, chloride, sulphide, laser melting, high temperature corrosion, molten salt environment 1 INTRODUCTION Laser melting is an additive manufacturing process in which the components with complex shapes are formed directly from metallic powder [1]. In laser melting process, parts are usually fabricated by melting a thin layer of metal powder on a substrate or previously formed layer using one or more laser beams [2].