Duplex stainless steels for osteosynthesis devices.

The austenitic stainless steels used today for the manufacture of osteosynthesis devices are sensitive to crevice corrosion. In this study the corrosion properties of some duplex stainless steels were evaluated and compared to traditional austenitic stainless steels. According to our results the following ranking was established: 23Cr-4Ni less than AISI 316L less than ASTM F138 less than 22Cr-5Ni-3Mo less than 27Cr-31Ni-3.5Mo less than 25Cr-7Ni-4Mo-N. In particular the results showed that the high-performance 25Cr-7Ni-4Mo-N duplex stainless steel, with high molybdenum and nitrogen contents, can be considered not susceptible to crevice corrosion in the human body. The duplex stainless steels have also better mechanical properties at the same degree of cold working compared with austenitic stainless steels. Hence the 25Cr-7Ni-4Mo-N duplex stainless steel can be considered a convenient substitute of ASTM F138 for orthopedic and osteosynthesis devices.