Mechanical and Corrosion Testing of Magnesium WE43 Specimens for Pitting Corrosion Model Calibration

Computational modeling can play an important role in the analysis, design, and development of complex medical devices such as biodegradable coronary stents. In this study, experimental mechanical and corrosion testing is conducted to characterize the mechanical and corrosion behavior of magnesium WE43 alloy, a candidate base material for biodegradable magnesium alloy stents. Previously developed uniform and pitting corrosion models are calibrated based on in vitro mechanical and corrosion testing of magnesium WE43 alloy specimens. The calibrated pitting corrosion model can capture the mechanical and corrosion behavior of magnesium WE43, including the experimentally observed non-linear reduction in failure strength with mass loss, whereas the uniform corrosion model is incapable of capturing this trend. The calibrated corrosion models will be used in future research on magnesium alloy stents.