Enhanced Passivation Layer by Cr Diffusion of 301 Stainless Steel Facilitated by SMAT

Abstract

AISI 301 stainless steel (SS) is known for its high strength and hardness but tends to be less corrosion resistant for many applications. Several attempts have been made in the past to investigate its corrosion behavior by different methods. However, current knowledge is insufficient on its corrosion resistance when subjected to surface treatment. In this work, a new route to enhance the corrosion resistance of nanostructured 301 SS using surface mechanical attrition treatment (SMAT) method is described. SMAT improves the mechanical properties of 301 SS by the formation of a nanostructure layer on the material surface. Compared to the as‐received 316 and 304 SS counterparts, the present nanostructured 301 SS exhibits an improved corrosion behavior by a lower corrosion current density (1.308 mA/cm2), higher corrosion potential (−0.071 V), higher phase angle and impedance, better charge‐transfer resistance, and Cr content. The improved corrosion resistance can be attributed to the ability of SMAT to facilitate the move of Cr on the surface, which forms a stronger passivation layer with a new mechanism of passivation that may save a lot of noble metals.

Datasets on the corrosion behaviour of nanostructured AISI 316 stainless steel treated by SMAT

“…The SMAT method, which is preferable to other methods such as coating/deposition [3] , [4] in retaining the inherent properties of materials after treatment, has been extensively described in the literature [5] , [6] with application in aircraft, oil and gas, etc. [7] , [8] , [9] , [10] . After SMAT, the treated surface was slightly polished to reduce the effect of oxidation and surface roughness on the corrosion behaviour.…”

Comprehensive review of various corrosion behaviours on 316 stainless steel

“…The corrosion behaviour of nanostructured 316 stainless steel has been experimented with through polarization test in 0.6 M NaCl aqueous solution at room temperature [55,56]. From the nanostructured layers, the surface mechanical attrition treatment (SMAT) and corrosion behaviour data of stainless steel 316 is obtained.…”

A Review on Mechanical and Corrosion Behaviour of DMLS Materials

“…17-4 PH steel shown better corrosion resistance in 0.5 M H 2 SO 4 when solution heat treated at 1040 0 C and subsequent aging at temperature 480 0 C [77] . Olugbade et al [78][79][80][81] developed a new method of creating nano structured passive oxide film on surface of steels using surface mechanical attrition treatment (SMAT). They successfully applied this method on the surfaces of SS 316L, 301 and 17-4 PH and found that SMAT was effective in increasing corrosion resistance of these steels.…”