Abstract
The mechanisms of chemically-assisted fracture processes are discussed. In stress corrosion the slip step dissolution mechanism has been verified under well-defined conditions in some selected systems. The problem of discontinuous cracking is discussed in detail following the results of the Flanagan-Lichter experiments. In hydrogen embrittlement the enhancement of dislocation mobility by hydrogen seems to be well documented for some systems. However, its role in the fracture process is not unequivocally proven. Experiments in well-defined systems do favour the decohesion mechanism. The plasticity which is accompanying brittle crack growth is a subject of active research, mainly in silicon as well as in Fe3%Si crystals. Atomistic simulations of all of these are becoming more and more elastic.
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