External Stress Corrosion Cracking (ESCC) due to chlorides sometimes occurs in austenitic stainless steel equipment or piping, which is without thermal insulation and near the seashore. In order to investigate the behavior of this cracking in a marine atmosphere, two year exposure tests of austenitic stainless steels were performed at three sites in Japan. Stainless steels coated by various coating systems were also tested.

ESCC susceptibility varied with alloy type, heat treatment, welded joint type, etc. Materials that showed a higher degree of sensitization and higher residual stress were susceptible to ESCC.

It was confirmed that applying a coating to a welded specimen was effective in preventing ESCC. Furthermore, the type of coating system which performed well in a marine atmosphere was identified.

Subject
External stress corrosion cracking, Coatings, Welding, Stress cracking, Welded joints, Epoxy coatings, U bends, Specimen preparation, Rust, Stainless steel, Cracking, Residual stress, Resins
© 1988 Association for Materials Protection and Performance (AMPP). All rights reserved. No part of this publication may be reproduced, stored in a retrieval system, or transmitted, in any form or by any means (electronic, mechanical, photocopying, recording, or otherwise) without the prior written permission of AMPP. Positions and opinions advanced in this work are those of the author(s) and not necessarily those of AMPP. Responsibility for the content of the work lies solely with the author(s).
1988
Association for Materials Protection and Performance (AMPP)
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