1- Investigation of the Mechanical Properties and Corrosion Behavior of 316L Steel Electro-Spark Coatings on Carbon Steel Plain carbon steels are widely utilized in structures because of their suitable mechanical properties, good performance, and low cost. However, in some harsh environments such as salty atmosphere, corrosion of carbon steels becomes a major concern and limits their applications. An effective way to improve the corrosion resistance of steel is to use a protective coating on the surface. In The current study, stainless steel 316L coating was deposited on carbon steel by electro-spark deposition (ESD). SEM micrographs showed that a well- adhered coating with low level of porosity and microcracks was successfully deposited. The composition of coating in argon atmosphere has no oxygen. Also, no heat affected zone (HAZ) was formed. Coatings adhesion was measured by ASTM C633 standard and it showed no failure occurred in coating and substrate, and hence, the adhesion test result of electro-spark coating samples shows that the metallurgical bond formed between coating and substrate is really strong. The concentrations of Cr and Ni in the coating are slightly lower than that in stainless steel 316 L rod but very higher than that in the substrate. The concentration of Mo is almost the same in both coating and rod. The results of microhardness tests showed that the hardness of 316L stainless steel coating is higher than 316L bulk rod. It is considerable that the electro-spark deposition causes some changes in the microhardness of the material, and rapid solidification of the coating increases it hardness. In argon atmosphere, the coating hardness reaches 460 HV 0.1 while the hardness of 316L bulk rod is 180 HV 0.1 . The results of microhardness tests showed after laser treatment of coating in argon atmosphere, the coating hardness reaches 640 HV 0.1 . To evaluate the corrosion behavior of the coatings, electrochemical impedance spectroscopy (EIS) were employed during long-time immersion in 0.9% NaCl solution. (R ct ) in