Dealloying of a binary noble alloy produces a porous layer rich in the more noble element. Application of a tensile load initiates a brittle intergranular (IG) crack in the dealloyed layer that advances into the unattacked material. This study showed that the crack penetration depth (Cd) is proportional to the thickness of the dealloyed layer (t). For a given value of t, the grain-boundary crack penetration distance was shown to decrease as the dealloying potential increased. The dependence of Cd on t and the dealloying potential, as opposed to the applied potential at the time of fracture, supported the film-induced cleavage model.

Subject
Equilibrium potential, Intergranular stress corrosion cracking, Electrochemical cells, Selective dissolution, Crack depth, Crack velocity, Fracture, Alloys, Dealloying, Cracks, Stress corrosion cracking, Potentiodynamic polarization, Electrode potential
Keywords:
dealloying, film-induced cleavage, film-induced cracking, intergranular cracking, selective dissolution, stress corrosion cracking
NACE International
1996
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