Stainless steel (SS) is an important material for the biomedical implant industry due to its excellent mechanical and material properties [1-3]. Specifically, stainless steel implants have high strength and wear resistance, which is essential for long-term implant performance. Additionally, stainless steel is highly biocompatible, meaning that it is unlikely to cause an adverse immune response or toxicity in the body [4]. Furthermore, stainless steel is easily machinable and can be fabricated into complex shapes, making it a versatile material for a range of implant applications. These factors make stainless steel an attractive choice for biomedical implants, including joint replacements, bone screws, and dental implants, among others.

There are three different common types of stainless steel. These are austenitic, ferritic, and martensitic-type SS. Beyond these, martensitic stainless steel has a higher hardness which results in better wear performance. In the medical industry due to the corrosive environment and sterilization process corrosion performance is crucial which determines tool life. To improve the material performance of martensitic stainless steels various kinds of surface modifications are applied. Sand blasting is one of the surface modification methodologies to improve material performance. In the literature, there are conflicting results for the effect of sandblasting on corrosion performance [5,6]. In this study, the corrosion performance after sandblasting procedure is investigated in detail to understand the underlying mechanisms. 

Acknowledgement: Thanks to the Avrupa İmplant San. ve Dış. Tic. Ltd. Şti. for their material support during the experimental study.

References

1) Chen Q., Thouas, G.A. Metallic implant biomaterials, Materials Science and Engineering R: Reports 2015:87, pp. 1-57

2) Niinomi M., Nakai M., Hieda J. Development of new metallic alloys for biomedical applications Acta Biomaterialia 2012: 8(11), pp. 3888-3903.

3) Davis R, Singh A, Jackson MJ, Coelho RT, Prakash D, Charalambous CP, et al. A comprehensive review on metallic implant biomaterials and their subtractive manufacturing. Springer London; 2022:120.

4) Asri R.I.M., Harun W.S.W., Samykano M., Lah N.A.C., Ghani S.A.C., Tarlochan F., Raza M.R., Corrosion and surface modification on biocompatible metals: A review, Materials Science and Engineering: C, 2017:77 pp. 1261-1274.

5) Suyitno Arifvianto B, Widodo TD, Mahardika M, Dewo P, Salim UA. Effect of cold working and sandblasting on the microhardness, tensile strength and corrosion resistance of AISI 316L stainless steel. International Journal of Minerals, Metallurgy and Materials 2012;19, pp. 1093–9.

6) Ding L., Poursaee A.,The impact of sandblasting as a surface modification method on the corrosion behavior of steels in simulated concrete pore solution, Construction and Building Materials, 2017:157, pp. 591-599.