Abstract: By means of surface mechanical attrition treatment (SMAT), the grain size with a diameter of about 60nm formed at about 20μm depth and numerous mechanical twins at about 50μm depth from the treated surface were synthesized in 316L stainless steel because of the different distributions of strain and strain rate along depth orientation. For instance the maximum strain rate reached 103-104s-1 on the top surface. The relationship between the microstructure and the corrosion property was studied in 0.05M H2SO4+ 0.25M Na2SO4 aqueous solution, and the results show an extreme improvement of corrosion resistance owing to the appearance of twin boundaries and the obvious reduction in corrosion resistance attributed to the presence of nanocrystaline boundaries. KEY WORDS surface mechanical attrition trea

Key words: surface mechanical attrition treatment, 316L stainless steel, corrosion property, twin boundaries