The Influence of Sandblasting and Electropolishing on the Surface Hardness of AISI 316L Stainless Steel
The purpose of this study is to analyze the effect of sandblasting and electropolishing on microstructure and hardness of stainless steel AISI 316L. The equipment used was sandblasting machine with a working pressure of 5-7 kg/cm2 with a duration of 10 minutes. The silica sand was used with size of 500-800 μm. The equipment used in the electropolishing process is the DC power supply with a maximum output of 2x100A. Anode and cathode material were stainless steel AISI 316L. Electrolyte solution consisted of 96% mass fraction of sulfuric acid and 85% mass fraction of phosphoric acid with a ratio of 1:1. The parameters used in the electropolish process were voltage of electrical, distance of electrodes and duration of electropolishing process. The results show that increasing the voltage, decreasing the distance, and increasing the duration of the electropolishing process increase the hardness up to 69%.