The Effect of Surface Roughness on the Fretting Corrosion of 316l Stainless Steel Biomaterial Surfaces

The medical device industry is still seeking answers to the mechanically-assisted corrosion (MAC) problem, which becomes increasingly important due to modularity in design. MAC manifests in various forms, some of which are fretting corrosion, crevice corrosion and stress corrosion. Several studies have been conducted to understand the causes and the factors that affect fretting corrosion. Some of the factors are the applied load, surface potential, oxide film characteristics and solution chemistry near the interface. Surface properties such as surface roughness determine the topography of the surface and the nature of asperity-asperity contact, which is a factor that would determine the mechanically assisted corrosion behavior of the interface, like the stem-neck and head-neck taper junctions in modular hip replacement devices. This study aims to understand the correlation between surface roughness of 316L stainless steel samples and fretting corrosion behavior using a variable load pin-on-disc test. It was found that the smoother surfaces are associated with lower fretting currents. However, smoother surfaces also created the conditions for fretting initiated crevice corrosion to occur more readily. Fretting corrosion regimes and the severity are thus dependent upon the surface roughness. A possible explanation could be due to the inverse relationship between the interasperity distance parameter, Δ, and fretting currents. The coefficient of friction between the two surfaces in contact however remained unaffected by surface roughness, but decreased with increasing load. Smoother surfaces, while lowering fretting corrosion reactions can enhance crevice corrosion reactions in 316L stainless steel interfaces. THE EFFECT OF SURFACE ROUGHNESS ON THE FRETTING CORROSION OF 316L STAINLESS STEEL BIOMATERIAL SURFACES By Aarti Shenoy B.E. Biomedical Engineering, University of Mumbai, 2012 Thesis Submitted in partial fulfillment of the requirements for the degree of Master of Science (M.S.) in Bioengineering Syracuse University December 2014 © Copyright 2014 Aarti Shenoy All rights reserved