Corrosion resistance of surface-conditioned 301 and 304 stainless steels by salt spray test

The corrosion rate of surface-conditioned 301 and 304 stainless steels (SS) was determined by salt spray test in a controlled accelerated corrosive medium (9.5 L of pure distilled water + 500 g NaCl). By surface conditioning via mechanical attrition treatment, a gradient-structured layer was firstly generated on the surface of the samples before the salt spray test. The corrosion rate was determined by the weight loss before and after the salt spray test. Compared to the untreated 301 SS sample with a weight loss of 0.15 g, the surface-conditioned samples treated for 300 s and 1200 s experienced a lower weight loss of 0.04 and 0.02 g, respectively. A similar reduction in weight loss was achieved for 304 SS sample when treated for 5, 10, and 20 mins.