Stress Corrosion Cracking and Corrosion-Fatigue

Abstract

When a susceptible metal is in contact with a specific environment, in presence of a tensile stress exceeding a threshold, the corrosion -enhanced formation of cracks and catastrophic failure is called stress corrosion cracking (SCC) . Although infrequent, consequences are so dangerous that it deserves to be described in details: in this chapter, after the introduction of the SCC mechanism, mechanical, metallurgical and environmental factors at its basis are explained, and specific preventative measurements are suggested. Another form of degradation that links mechanical stress and corrosion , i.e., corrosion -fatigue , is also described.

Stress corrosion and hydrogen-induced cracking resemble the fable of the blind men and the elephant. Investigators have tended to perceive only single aspects of the problem and to design experiments in which important variables were either not appreciated, not controlled, or not measured.

R. A. Oriani