Corrosion behaviour of sintered austenitic stainless steels in sulphate and chloride media

Electrochemical investigations (polarization curves, polarization resistance measurements), together with weight loss measurements and quantitative chemical analysis of the solutions after immersion of samples were used to evaluate the corrosion behaviour of type 304L and 316L sintered austenitic stainless steels in sulphate and chloride containing solutions. The samples were sintered in nitrogen based atmosphere, at 1120 and 1190°C, and in vacuum at 1200°C and submitted to X-ray diffraction analysis and SEM observation together with EDS microanalysis before and after the corrosion tests. A correlation is tempted between the corrosion behaviour and the mechanical properties of samples as Rockwell hardness, shrinkage, unnotched impact strength, ultimate tensile strength.