PSI - Issue 82

Goran Vukelić et al. / Procedia Structural Integrity 82 (2026) 24 – 29 Vukelić et al. / Structural Integrity Procedia 00 (2026) 000–000

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atmosphere as a control group. Two groups of five specimens were exposed to the natural marine environment for three months, one at the northern part of the Adriatic Sea and another at the southern part of the Adriatic Sea, Fig. 1b). The same was done for a six-month exposure period, Fig. 1c). The specimens were exposed to natural seawater at a depth of 10 m below the surface. The location at the northern Adriatic was off the coast of Rijeka, Croatia, and the location at the southern Adriatic was off the coast of Kotor, Montenegro. Following immersion, the specimens were retrieved, dried at ambient room temperature and weighed. After that, specimens were cleaned of corrosion products using a soft brush under running water. The cleaned samples were subsequently rinsed with distilled water and dried at ambient room temperature. Specimens were weighed using an Ohaus 3000 digital balance. Uniaxial tensile testing was carried out on a Hegewald & Peschke Inspekt Table 20 kN universal testing machine. The tensile specimens and test were prepared in accordance with the relevant standards (Vukelic et al., 2025) to obtain engineering stress-strain curves for subsequent mechanical property evaluation.

(a)

(b)

(c)

Fig. 1. Additively manufactured AlSi10Mg0.6 specimens. (a) As received. (b) After 3 months of exposure. (c) After 6 months of exposure.

3. Results Based on the measured values obtained before and after marine exposure, the percentage of change in mass for each specimen group was calculated and correlated with the corresponding exposure duration, Fig. 2. In addition to the experimental data, approximation curves were generated to illustrate the relationship between average mass loss and exposure time, providing a visual representation of the observed trend. The coefficient of determination ( R ²) is included to indicate the quality of fit (Vukelic et al., 2022).