Pitting Corrosion of Type 316L Stainless Steel Elaborated by the Selective Laser Melting Method: Influence of Microstructure

The microstructure of two sets of 316L alloys (SLM and wrought structure) is determined using SPECTROMAXx stationary metal analyzer, FE-SEM/EDS and XRD. The physical–chemical properties of the passive films are also investigated by means of XPS, Auger after sputtering and electrochemical impedance spectroscopy measurements. Differences and similarities between the two sets of alloys are then identified. The corrosion behavior of alloys is investigated in NaCl solution at the macro- and microscale (microcapillary technique). It was found that the inclusion/particles cleanliness is the first-order parameter explaining differences between 316L(WS) and 316L(SLM). In the absence of particles (pure matrix), the two sets of alloys have the same corrosion behavior. Residual stresses, the average grain size, the PREN and the passive films properties are of second order.

Probabilistic evaluation of the area of coverage of a probe used for eddy current non-destructive inspections

This study proposes a method to probabilistically evaluate the area of coverage of nondestructive inspections to detect defects on a surface of a structure. For the specific problem, this study considers the effect of the distance between two neighboring scanning lines on the detectability of eddy current testing against near-side cracks. Thirty-eight type 316L stainless steel plates having a fatigue crack were prepared, and eddy current examinations were performed with a sufficiently fine scanning pitch. The full width at half maximum of the spatial distribution of the amplitude of the signals was approximated using a Gaussian function. A probability of detection model considering the distance between two neighboring scanning lines is proposed because in actual inspections a scanning line does not always run directly above a crack. The results demonstrated that the proposed model enables a reasonable probabilistic evaluation of the effect of the distance between two neighboring scanning lines.