Influence on Pitting Corrosion Resistance of AISI 301LN and 316L Stainless Steels Subjected to Cold-Induced Deformation

Austenitic stainless steels that exhibit good corrosion resistance have recently found increasing applications in industry and transportation. This article addresses the influence of cold rolling and deformation on the pitting corrosion resistance of AISI 301LN and 316L stainless steels. The results indicate that the content of martensite increases as the cold rolling reduction also increases. The current work combined different techniques such as optical microscopy and scanning electron microscopy (SEM) with energy dispersive X-ray spectroscopy (EDS) analyses. Corrosion tests were carried out, in accordance with the ASTM standards. The results confirm that the 316L steel performed better than the 301LN, regarding pitting corrosion, even when deformed. This is due to the high molybdenum (Mo) content, which guarantees greater corrosion resistance. The conducted corrosion tests showed that the increase of cold deformation reduces the resistance to pitting and overall corrosion in both steels. It was found that the 301LN stainless steel has higher susceptibility to deformation-induced martensite and, despite the addition of nitrogen, it still has a lower performance relative to the 316L steel. The current work focused on evaluating the formation of pits and the dynamics of the microstructures of the AISI 301LN and 316L steels with their mechanical properties and corrosion resistance in a saline environment including chlorides.