Role of micropatterns on wettability and corrosion characteristics of SS304 steel surface

SS304 steel is used in most of the engineering structures and components wherever high strength is required. SS304 steel has good corrosion resistance property but it will not withstand the combined effect of corrosion in the presence of stress which is reported in our earlier study. For this case the conventional methods like coatings or platings will not withstand for a longtime and it will peel off over a certain period of time. Eventhough oxide layer formed on the surface of SS304 will also lead to break due to the presence of load which provides path for a corrosion particles makes its impact in depth of the specimen. Inducing micropatterns on the surface may stand as an effective solution to suppress corrosion in the presence of stress for a prolonged time period. In this work micropatterns in the form of grooves was formed on the surface by means of Electrical Discharge Machining Process (EDM) and characterised using 3D optical profilometer. Wetting and corrosion study was conducted on plain and micropatterned surface using high speed camera and electrochemical workstation to reveal the relation between them. Micropatterned surface shows considerably less wetting and better corrosion resistance property when compare to the plain surface.