Effect of silicon-ion implantation upon the corrosion properties of austenitic stainless steels

The structure of the surface layers and the corrosion resistance of austenitic stainless steels after silicon-ion implantation, were examined. The implanted silicon doses were 1.5×1017, 3×1017 and 4.5×1017 Si+ cm-2. Implantation with all these doses gave an amorphous surface layer. When samples implanted with 1.5×1017 Si+ cm-2 were annealed at temperatures of 300 and 500 °C, their surface structure remained unchanged. After annealing at 650 °C, the amorphous layer vanished. It was determined how, in terms of corrosion resistance, the amount of implanted silicon, subsequent heat treatment and long time exposure, affect highly corrosion-resistant austenitic stainless steel (18/17/8) in comparison to the 316L austenitic stainless steel subjected to the same treatment. Corrosion examinations were carried out in 0.9% NaCl at a temperature of 37 °C. After silicon-ion implantation the corrosion resistance of the 316L steel increased while that of highly resistant (18/17/8) did not. The corrosion resistance of the investigated steels, both implanted and non-implanted, increased with the exposure time of the samples in the test environment. © 1998 Kluwer Academic Publishers