Preliminary investigation on the effect of irradiation on tribocorrosion behavior of 316L stainless steel alloy

The effect of irradiation on the tribocorrosion behavior of 316L stainless steel alloy was investigated in 0.02 M Na2SO4 solution, using a ball-on-flat configuration, which was connected with a three electrode-chemical cell. The rubbing and irradiation track morphology were investigated using Scanning Electron Microscopy and profilometric measurements after rubbing and irradiation tests. The rubbing tests, in the presence or absence of irradiation, were performed under 20 N normal force using an alumina ball as a counter body. The surfaces were characterized through electrochemical measurements, optical microscopy, and elemental analysis while the corrosion phenomenon was examined by electrochemical impedance spectroscopy (EIS) and polarization potentiodynamic measurements. The open-circuit potential measurements and EIS measurements were used to evaluate the electrochemical reactivity of the 316L stainless steel surface before, during and after sliding tests. The corrosion rate was determined using the Tafel extrapolation technique. It was found that when the sample subjected to both tribo-corrosion and irradiation, the corrosion potential shifted more toward the anodic region and affects the corrosion kinetics. It is found that the surface of 316L stainless steel has a reasonable corrosion-irradiation resistance.