Abstract
IT may be useful to describe in a little more detail the nature of the welded particles of metal which are transferred from one surface to the other. Fig. 1 shows two taper sections, taken by Dr. A. J. W. Moore, illustrating typical fragments of copper which were welded on to a mild steel surface after the copper had slid over it once. There is evidence that, with most metals, the particles penetrate the oxide layer and adhere to the underlying metal. Since the resistance to corrosion of a stainless steel is due to the protection of its superficial oxide layer, the dissolution of these embedded foreign fragments, if they are anodic, may lead to a serious breakdown of the oxide layer and to the onset of continuing corrosion. If the adherent particles are cathodic (with these stainless steels the relative electrode potential is very dependent on the extent to which the oxide layer is disturbed and also on the surrounding medium; see, for example, Evans1) continuing corrosion may again result. It would be unwise to assume that the transfer of 65 µgm. of material, anodic or cathodic, to the screw head would allow the corrosive dissolution of only 65 µgm. from the head.
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References
Evans, U. R., “Metallic Corrosion, Passivity and Protection”, (Arnold, 1946).
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BOWDEN, F., WILLIAMSON, J. Clinical and Metallurgical Observations on the Corrosion of Stainless Steel Screws used in Orthopædic Surgery. Nature 173, 1187 (1954). https://doi.org/10.1038/1731187a0
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DOI: https://doi.org/10.1038/1731187a0
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