Fretting crevice corrosion of 316 L stainless steel in physiological phosphate buffered saline: Load, potential and alloy counterface effects

Fretting crevice corrosion has become a major concern in orthopedic medical devices when passivating alloys are used alone or in combination. In this work the fretting crevice corrosion response of 316 L stainless steel was investigated when the counterface consisted of different alloys and the effects of potential and normal load were investigated. Fretting initiated crevice corrosion was observed in all stainless steel containing couples, but not in the Ti6Al4V_CoCrMo combination. The coefficient of friction (COF) varied with the applied potential, reaching a maximum of about 0.6-0.7 and decreasing on either side. In summary, normal load and electrode potential have significant effects on fretting crevice corrosion and fretting initiated crevice corrosion of SS316L and its mix-alloy couples.

Automated summary

This study found that normal load and electrode potential have significant effects on fretting crevice corrosion and fretting initiated crevice corrosion of SS316L and its mix-alloy couples.