Corrosion resistance of surface-conditioned 301 and 304 stainless steels by salt spray test

The corrosion rate of surface-conditioned 301 and 304 stainlesssteels (SS) was determined by salt spray test in a controlled acceleratedcorrosive medium (9.5 L of pure distilled water + 500 g NaCl). By surfaceconditioning via mechanical attrition treatment, a gradient-structuredlayer was firstly generated on the surface of the samples before the saltspray test. The corrosion rate was determined by the weight loss before andafter the salt spray test. Compared to the untreated 301 SS sample with aweight loss of 0.15 g, the surface-conditioned samples treated for 300 sand 1200 s experienced a lower weight loss of 0.04 and 0.02 g,respectively. A similar reduction in weight loss was achieved for 304 SSsample when treated for 5, 10, and 20 mins.