On investigating the soda-lime shot blasting of AZ31 alloy: Effects on surface roughness, material removal rate, corrosion resistance, and bioactivity

Abstract

In the present study, a novel method of surface finish improvement is proposed using shot blasting of soda lime (SBSL) beads on the Mg-AZ31 alloy. The effect of the soda blasting process parameters, such as blast pressure, stand-off distance, and blast duration, have been studied in-response of material removal rate (MRR) and surface roughness (SR) and corresponding statistical models have been obtained. The multi-objective optimization has also been performed to obtain parameters for maximum MRR and minimum SR. The corrosion behavior of the treated specimens has been performed to study their in-vitro biodegradability in simulated body fluid (SBF) for 1, 3, 7, 10, 15, and 21 days. The wettability study of the SBSL treated samples has been investigated using sessile drop methodology. Further, cell adhesion test has also been performed to study the biocompatibility characteristics of the SBSL treated samples using Huh7 liver cell lines. Based on obtained quantitative data as well as scanning electron microscopy analysis of treated samples, the SBSL treatment of the AZ31 alloy has been found highly useful in producing biocompatibility surfaces along with desirable morphological features. © 2020