This paper presents observations about the results of an investigation into the relationships between pitting, stress, and stress-corrosion cracking of line pipe steels. This work showed that the number of stress-corrosion cracks varied exponentially with specimen stress. The cracks generally nucleated from pits, whose depths followed a lognormal distribution. A mathematical analysis of the crack number and pit depth data supports the hypothesis that a crack nucleates from the bottom of a pit when the stress concentration at the bottom of the pit reaches a critical value. The increase in crack number with stress results from the corresponding decrease in the critical pit depth, and hence an increase in the number of critically sized pits. The number of critically sized pits was found to increase approximately exponentially with stress.

Subject
Pits, Pipe surfaces, Piping, Stress concentration, Modeling, Deviation, Stress cracking, Stress, Crack depth, Intergranular stress, Steel, Pitting, Stress corrosion cracking
© 1991 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).
1991
Association for Materials Protection and Performance (AMPP)
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