Abstract

Abstract The initiation and propagation of stress corrosion cracking (SCC) of austenitic stainless steels in boiling 35% magnesium chloride solution, with the pH adjusted to 3.0, were investigated electrochemically by separating the crack anode from the cathode. The dissolution current accompanying crack propagation can be measured, by connecting the anode with the cathode through an external electric circuit, and as a result, the distinction between crack initiation and propagation becomes very clear. The passive-active cell of SCC, simulated by keeping the crack anode potential at the potential of the cathode using a potentiostat, prevents the coupled potential from falling during crack propagation step, accelerates the dissolution of crack anode, and reduces the time to failure. For materials and environments which have low susceptibility to SCC, it can clearly be determined whether SCC occurs or not, by comparing the critical potential for crack propagation, not for initiation, with the corrosion potential of the unstressed steel in the environment concerned. If the former is more active than the latter, SCC can occur. The present method was applied to predict SCC in some chemical equipment, and successful results were obtained.

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