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Passivation, electropolish, or nothing for 301 and 17-7?

September 21, 2009

Kirk in California..

I am developing a small disposable surgical instrument. It will only have bried contact to the open surgical site and contact with the body.

I want to use a metal that is harder than just annealed, So I am leaning toward 1/2 hard 301.. But my question is do you know if the metal has to be electropolished? Can I just use passivation and is the passivation process less or non existent if I use 17-7 stainless steel?


The instrument is going to be gamma sterilized and peel packaged.

Any suggestions as to what material to use?

Thanks,.

Kirk Bielke
Customer - Modesto, California, USA

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October 7, 2009

Well you did mention that it's disposable, which I take to mean single use, and sterilization via radiation isn't going to cause corrosion stress the way an autoclave does. So I'd say yes, you have less to worry about vis-a-vis corrosion than most surgical instrument manufacturers.

Passivation should be fine. Passivation processes are about the same for 300 grades and PH grades like 17-7. Let us know if we can help you.

Ray Kremer
Stellar Solutions, Inc.

McHenry, Illinois