Studies on Stress Corrosion Cracking of F304 Stainless Steel in Boiling Magnesium Chloride Solution

Abstract

Forged (F) 304 stainless steel is well known for its material properties of corrosion resistance and can withstand in extreme environments. Hence, this study was dedicated to investigating the Stress corrosion cracking (SCC) behavior of F304 austenite stainless steel (SS) using ASTM G36. The specimen was immersed in a boiling magnesium chloride solution for 8 h, 16 h, and 24 h, respectively. The collective effect of stress and corrosion was applied with the U-bend method. The results specify the susceptibility of SCC of F304 stainless steel. Primarily, to investigate the crack initiation region, the specimen was observed after 1 h. It was found that the material was sustained only for 2 h under the boiling magnesium chloride solution. Furthermore, the Crack growth rate was calculated, and it specifies the susceptibility of F304 SS to crack initiation in the chloride environment. Similarly, the outer surface of U-bends was studied by an optical microscope to check, whether any cracks have been initiated after the SCC tests. Moreover, the hardness test and potentiodynamic polarization were performed after the exposure of boiling magnesium chloride.