Effect of electropolishing on corrosion of nuclear grade 316L stainless steel in deaerated high temperature water

Effect of change in surface composition and microstructure by electropolishing on corrosion of nuclear grade 316L stainless steel in deaerated high temperature water was investigated. The investigation was conducted by comparing the corrosion of electropolished surface (EPS) with that of the 40 nm-colloidal silica slurry polished surface (CPS), which has few composition change as well as few surface residual strain. The result revealed that the EPS had a higher corrosion rate than the CPS, which is attributed to formation of an amount of hydroxide at the EPS.