Numerical simulations study of the localized corrosion resistance of AISI 316L stainless steel and pure titanium in a simulated body fluid environment

The resistance of both AISI 316L stainless steel (AISI 316L SS) and commercially pure titanium (cpTi) to localized corrosion in a simulated body fluid solution was investigated using numerical simulations. The resulting model, based on transport equations in dilute solutions, is designed to predict the susceptibility of these two biomaterials to crevice corrosion initiation. The results show that cpTi and AISI 316L SS alloy are very resistant to the initiation of crevice corrosion in 0.9% NaCl solution and AISI 316L SS alloy is more susceptible to corrosion initiation over the long term than cpTi.

► Modeling crevice corrosion of stainless steel and titanium in a body fluid. ► Impact of the geometry of the crevice on the chemical evolution inside the crevice. ► Effect of the passive current in the local chemistry evolution inside a crevice. ► Comparison of the localized corrosion resistance of stainless steel and titanium.