On the Interaction between Uniaxial Stress Loading and the Corrosion Behavior of the ISO 5832-1 Surgical Stainless Steel

The interaction between the uniaxial stress loading and the corrosion behavior of the surgical ISO 5832-1 stainless steel is addressed in the present work. Specimens were subject to uniaxial tensile and compressive stress at two different deformation levels (15 and 30%). The effect of the different loading modes and deformation levels on the residual stresses was investigated by x-ray diffraction. The composition of the passive films formed on each sample was assessed by x-ray photoelectron spectroscopy (XPS). The corrosion behavior was studied by electrochemical impedance spectroscopy and potentiodynamic polarization in phosphate-buffered solution at 37 °C. The semiconducting character of the passive films was determined by the Mott-Schottky approach. Our findings point to a positive effect of compressive loading on the corrosion resistance of the steel. The passive current density (i_pass) decreased for the strained samples, especially for that subject to 15% compressive deformation for which i_pass was 63% lower than for the as-received steel. The passive film formed at this condition presented strong Cr₂O₃ enrichment, according to XPS results. Moreover, the compressive stresses favored the formation of a passive film with fewer defects, decreasing the donors density. The results are discussed based on the correlation between residual stresses, passive film composition and its electronic properties.