Effect of cold working and sandblasting on the microhardness, tensile strength and corrosion resistance of AISI 316L stainless steel

The aim of this work is to investigate the effect of cold working and sandblasting on the microhardness, tensile strength and corrosion rate of AISI 316L stainless steel. The specimens were deformed from 17% to 47% and sandblasted for 20 min using SiC particles with a diameter of 500-700 μm and an air flow with 0.6-0.7 MPa pressure. The microhardness distribution and tensile test were conducted and a measurement on the corrosion current density was done to determine the corrosion rate of the specimens. The result shows that the cold working enhances the bulk microhardness, tensile and yield strength of the specimen by the degree of deformation applied in the treatment. The sandblasting treatment increases the microhardness only at the surface of the specimen without or with a low degree of deformation. In addition, the sandblasting enhances the surface roughness. The corrosion resistance is improved by cold working, especially for the highly deformed specimen. However the follow-up sandblasting treatment reduces the corrosion resistance. In conclusion, the cold working is prominent to be used for improving the mechanical properties and corrosion resistance of AISI 316L stainless steel. Meanwhile, the sandblasting subjected to the cold worked steel is only useful for surface texturing instead of improving the mechanical properties and corrosion resistance.