In situ AFM detection of pit onset location on a 304L stainless steel

A set-up combining an AFM and an electrochemical cell has been used to study in situ the local corrosion of a 304L stainless steel in an aqueous chloride-containing solution. The focus was made on the sites where pits were initiated under controlled potential in order to establish whether or not the pits were randomly distributed at the nanoscale. Grain boundaries and surface stoichiometric inhomogeneities appeared to concentrate pit onsets significantly. The influence of the mechanical history of the material, especially soft surface strain hardening, on the location of the first pits has been shown. The study revealed that 70% of the pits initiated at strain hardened areas resulting from mechanical polishing. A plausible model has been suggested to explain such a behaviour.