Effects of ECAP and Recovery Treatment on Microstructure, Mechanical, Tribological and Corrosion Properties of 316L Steel

316L steel is widely used in various industries and is also one of the metallic materials for biomedical applications because of its excellent mechanical properties, corrosion resistance, and biocompatibility. This article reports a comprehensive study on the effects of equal channel angular pressing (ECAP) and subsequent recovery treatment on the microstructure, mechanical, tribiological, and corrosion properties of 316L. The process includes initial annealing at 1050℃ for 2 hours to get homogenous microstructure, ECAP at room temperature with 120° inner angle, and subsequent recovery treatment at 340℃ for 1 hour. Microstructure was investigated with an optical microscope and transmission electron microscope. The mechanical properties were evaluated with hardness and compression tests. Corrosion behavior was analyzed with polarization dynamic tests. The wear test was performed using a scratching tester, and the volume loss was measured with a profilometer. Results of the study show that the ECAP-recovery sample exhibits improved properties than the annealed sample and ECAP sample. The corrosion tests show that the ECAP sample has a corrosion resistance higher than that of the annealed but lower than that of the ECAP-recovery sample. ECAP-recovery sample shows the highest wear resistance and corrosive wear resistance among the three samples