Influence of thermal and mechanical surface modifications induced by laser shock processing on the initiation of corrosion pits in 316L stainless steel

Pure mechanical and thermo-mechanical laser shock processing treatments have been carried out on an AISI 316L stainless steel. Surface properties, mostly mechanical and metallurgical modifications, were analysed at different scales: a local scale using the nano-indentation technique and AFM analysis, and a more macroscopic scale, using microhardness, optical microscopy and residual stress determinations. After a pure mechanical laser-peening treatment, a significant improvement in the pitting corrosion resistance (+0.1 V) was observed in 0.05 M NaCl. This improvement was attributed to the combined effects of compressive residual stresses and work-hardening, and, in turn, to a mechano-electrochemical phenomenon by which a modification of cathodic reactions occurs during electrochemical tests. For the surface treated by thermo-mechanical laser peening (combination of a surface ablation and shock waves), a tendency for decreasing resistance against pitting corrosion was shown, and attributed to the processing-specific surface texture (ablation craters), which made the material susceptible for the creation of occluded cells.