Effect of Harmonic Microstructure on the Corrosion Behavior of SUS304L Austenitic Stainless Steel

Corrosion behavior of a harmonic structured SUS304L austenitic stainless steel was examined and compared with nonharmonic structured SUS304L stainless steel and conventional 304 stainless steel in 3.5 pct NaCl solution. The study was performed using linear polarization, potentiodynamic polarization, cyclic polarization, and a salt fog exposure test for 30 days. Characterization was accomplished using a scanning electron microscope, an electron probe microanalyzer, and Raman spectroscopy. Improved pitting corrosion resistance was found in the case of the harmonic structured steel as compared to that of the nonharmonic and the conventional 304 stainless steel. Harmonically distributed fine-grained structure, less porosity, and higher fraction of passive alpha-FeOOH are attributed to the improvement in corrosion resistance of the harmonic structured steel.