Detection of Grinding-Induced Corrosion Susceptibility of Austenitic Stainless Steel 316 L Using Electrochemical and Analytical Methods

The austenitic stainless steel AISI 316 L was ground using industrially common grinding belts to investigate the corrosion resistance of the resulting surfaces. Although all grinding belts produced comparable ground surfaces, differences in corrosion resistance were detected. The cause of the local corrosion susceptibility was identified and quantified using electrochemical and surface analytical methods. During grinding with granular abrasive belts, steel particles are generated, which become highly heated through friction in the grinding process and consequently fuse locally with the steel surface. These resulting particles form defects in the ground surface with critical crevice geometries, preventing the formation of the protective passive layer. These surface defects were identified as the starting points of local corrosion processes. The critical defects occur particularly when using the so-called granular abrasive belts and are attributed to their special surface topography, which causes significant localization of the grinding processes. A higher corrosion resistance was achieved with single-layered abrasive belts that have a more uniform topography.